The Transformative Power of Music In Our Lives: A Personal Perspective

It is the experience of music in our lives and the lives of the people with whom we work that is the essence and heart of music therapy. Only to the extent that we can experience and understand the transformative power of music in our own lives can we offer it to others in our work. We need to spend time making music, listening to music and exploring the uses of sound and music for our own personal growth and transformation. It is difficult to guide someone on the path of self exploration in and through music if we are: personally unfamiliar with the territory. Experiencing music in these ways deepens our understanding of our clinical work and changes our relationship to music permanently. Some of the possible ways to explore the transformative power of music are discussed in this article. They include experiencing individual and/or group music therapy with an experienced music therapist, seeking supervision that emphasizes the use of music to understand and illuminate clinical process, group experiences that can be created with colleagues, and self exploration practices.