The Dynamics of Music Psychotherapy is the first book known to me that tries to integrate different music therapeutic orientations and methodology in a psychodynamic perspective. To have such a goal is ambitious, and to do it is in itself and achievement. The book has four main parts. The first part contains an introduction to the psychodynamic concepts used in the book. The following three parts have reference to different ways of practicing music therapy; clinical improvisation, song writing and Guided Imagery and Music (GIM). The book has twenty-four chapters, and is with its 560 page covering a great area in the field of music therapy. All the chapters are presented with abstracts, which is very helpful
.....The book’s first part is concept clarification, with focus on the concepts of transference and countertransference. The first chapter is an introduction to the book. Here Bruscia gives the whole spectrum of its contents. The chapter gives a good overview of this complex field and functions as a reader’s guidance. At the same time one gets an overview of the polarities in the understanding and use of music therapy, for example the different understandings of the role and function of the verbal element in the process of therapy. The book gives the impression that the will to make the concepts in use more homogeneous is there and that there is a beginning dialogue between the different opinions. This first part of the book has two final chapters that focus on countertransference. Direct instructions on how to uncover and work with countertransference are given here. The chapters are thorough and the different techniques seem applicable to the music therapist who has no immediate access to supervision.
.....The second part of the book is about active music therapy, especially the psychodynamics of clinical improvisation. There is a chapter about resistance by Diane S. Austin and Janice M. Dvorkin. Thereafter Edith Lecourt discusses the role of aesthetics in countertransference. Then Alan Turry writes about transference and countertransference Nordoff-Robbins music therapy. This chapter is for some controversial, because these concepts according to the author are identical to reductionistic thinking. And reductionism is not consistent with this way of understanding therapy. I think that Turry’s contribution is an attempt to engage in this debate in an exciting and relevant way for everybody doing clinical improvisation. Benedikte B. Scheiby is the author of the next chapter about countertransference in analytical music therapy. It is an updating of Mary Priestley’s definition of countertransference. The chapter looks at countertransference in a more constructivistic way, in the sense that Scheiby include examples of her own process during the therapy, in her analysis of the countertransference. She does not make this more post-modern view explicit.
.....Of the following chapters in this part of the book, I will like to mention Susan J. Hadley’s chapter, which describes a qualitative research project where the client’s experience in analytical and creative music therapy is compared. The second part finishes with a chapter about group therapy by Janice Dvorkin and one about relational aspects in psychoanalytic music therapy with traumatized individuals by Louise Montello. These chapters have clinical value, but I do not think that they bring anything new into the theoretical discussion about transference and countertransference.
.....The third part of the book is about the psychodynamics in song writing techniques. Diane Austin’s song writing technique is presented. The problems that are presented in this part of the book are not fundamentally different from the topics that are presented in the second part of the book, focusing on clinical improvisation. They are very interesting and relevant in the clinical perspective. Austin’s chapter is both fascinating and inspiring to read. Cora L. Diaz de Chumaceiro’s chapter about conscious and unconscious song recall is not typical for the book, because it is primarily based more on a literature review of psychoanalytic literature than on clinical vignettes. This chapter therefore gives us an overview of classic psychoanalytic literature in this area. *This review could have been presented earlier in the book, although its focus—if it had not been for its relevance for the specific topic; Induced song recall.
The fourth part of the book is about Guided Imagery in Music. Bruscia initiates an ends this chapter. In between him the GIM part contains contributions from Lisa Summer, Connie Isenberg-Grzeda and John Pellitteri. It is in my opinion the most integrated part of the book. The chapters supplement each other very well, and the discussions are very relevant even though one does not do GIM.
.....The greatest quality of the book is the discussion and integration of theoretical concepts with clinical examples, especially the description of transference and countertransference in clinical practice. The psychodynamic processes presented in the GIM part are very accessible. This is maybe because the music here is a “static object” and therefore always the same. To investigate and describe transference and countertransference in clinical improvisation is far more difficult because of the complexity in the musical interaction. The theoretical discussions show some variation, and are often more independent statements. Besides that I think everybody uses too much space to explain and define transference and countertransference, instead of referring to the theoretical definitions in the beginning of the book. The discussions of these concepts do not vary very much with a few exceptions.
.....The book’s theoretical reference is basically object relations theory, where the concepts like transference, countertransference, projective identification etc. exist. This is okay, but I think the theoretical basis of music psychotherapy should include the more recent discussion of concepts like intersubjectivity and neutrality. The exception in the book is Bruscia who mentions Stolorow and the intersubjective perspective once. Besides that the book refers to an understanding of childhood development that is twenty years or more old. There is only one reference to more recent literature in developmental psychology (Daniel Stern). Even though this is not a book about developmental psychology, music therapy has always seen the musical interaction as an analogy to the mother – child dyad, so I think an updating is needed. This literature has shown its actuality in the field of music therapy, so why not use it?
.....As said in the beginning, the most important contribution of the book is in my view the beginning dialogue between different views on music therapy methodology and conceptualizing. The book makes it absolutely clear that concepts like transference and countertransference are extremely relevant, no matter what kind of music therapy one practices.