A Qualitative Research Approach to Analytical Music Therapy

Qualitative research approaches appear to be promising in providing insight into interventions in music therapy that are determined by all participants' subjectivity, intuition, and wholeness. Using the procedure of triangulation (patient, therapist, independent describers), this article illustrates an interactive method of analyzing music therapy that is consistent with the treatment. The starting point is the concept of the resonator function that describes all participants' capacity to perceive the elements of the improvisation that are emotional and that characterize the patient's relationships. Then, from the musical notations and the descriptive accounts provided by the participants, inductive qualities and motifs are compared to the clinical case study. In this research process, methodological results from qualitative social research can be helpful.