Book Review: Advanced methods of music therapy practice: Analytical Music Therapy, the Bonny Method of Guided Imagery and Music, Nordoff-Robbins music therapy, and vocal psychotherapy

Within the framework of qualitative inquiry, Nicki Cohen sets out to present an intimate exploration of four advanced methods of music therapy practice. Posing a series of several questions to four experts Cohen concisely presents each method’s initial development, how it has adapted over time to current practice, and finally, what the future of the method may become as it pertains to the field of music therapy. She presents her own journey in achieving advanced competency and the personal journeys of each founding person of the respective methods. The book is a gentle call for educators to inspire student exploration of their own intrapersonal relationships with music and how this exploration may influence the pursuance of advanced method training.

Music Therapy Programming for Persons With Eating Disorders

Eating disorders are serious disturbances in eating habits, body image attitudes, and weight that affect overall well-being and can have life-threatening consequences. Participation in music therapy sessions may allow for healing of anxiety, self-worth, and body-image challenges that each person may face. In this manuscript we examined the music therapy literature pertaining to clinical work with persons who have eating disorders. We describe six techniques (clinical improvisation, song autobiography, song discussion, songwriting, music assisted relaxation/imagery, and Bonny Method of Guided Imagery and Music) and their reported uses in the literature. While the evidence supports that these techniques are effective, we acknowledge that what works in one context may not be culturally relevant or effective in another. The overview of the evidence in the literature corroborates how therapists who work with persons who have eating disorders tend to use music therapy techniques as pathways for contributing to sense of self. For each technique, we provide clinical examples with a strong element of the need to redevelop or discover identity.

Experience of Music Used With Psychedelic Therapy: A Rapid Review and Implications

Bonny Method of Guided Imagery and Music emerged following discontinuation of psychedelic therapy research in the early 1970s, but psychedelic therapy research has since revived. Music remains a vital component. This study examined participants’ experiences of music in psychedelic therapy research. A rapid review of qualitative and quantitative journal articles in four major databases was conducted in February to April, 2019, using the terms hallucinogens, psychedelic, “lysergic acid diethylamide,” psilocybin, ayahuasca, music, and/or “music therapy.” Of 406 articles retrieved, 10 were included (n = 180; 18–69 years old). Participants had varied backgrounds. Music was widely considered integral for meaningful emotional and imagery experiences and self-exploration during psychedelic therapy. Music transformed through its elicitation of anthropomorphic, transportive, synesthetic, and material sensations. Music could convey love, carry listeners to other realms, be something to “hold,” inspire, and elicit a deep sense of embodied transformation. Therapeutic influence was especially evident in music’s dichotomous elicitations: Music could simultaneously anchor and propel. Participant openness to music and provision of participant-centered music were associated with optimal immediate and longer-term outcomes. Many studies reported scarce details about the music used and incidental findings of music experienced. Further understanding of participants’ idiosyncratic and shared responses to music during drug therapy phases will inform optimal development of flexible music protocols which enhance psychedelic therapy. Music therapists could be involved in the psychedelic therapy research renaissance through assisting with research to optimize music-based protocols used. If psychedelics become approved medicines, music therapists may be involved in offering psychedelic therapy as part of therapeutic teams.

Multimodal Imagery in the Receptive Music Therapy Model Guided Imagery and Music (GIM)

Lars Ole Bonde considers musical imagery in the context of music therapy sessions and focuses on the Bonny Method of guided imagery and music as a well-documented example of music imagery. While Bonde mainly focuses on listening in clinical settings, he argues that imagery listening should be seen as a health resource in everyday listening settings. Taking in perspectives from neuroaffective theory, Bonde analyzes clinical material and evidence from the analysis of EEG data and shows how music therapy theory—as a specific tradition within musicology—can contribute to research in music listening through a greater understanding of multimodal imagery in such listening.

Protocol for a Neurophenomenological Investigation of a Guided Imagery and Music Experience (Part I)

This article, Part I of II, describes the rationale and background literature of an investigation into a music and imagery (GIM) experience modeled upon the Bonny Method of Guided Imagery and Music[1]. This investigation aimed to obtain an integrated description of participants’ subjective experiences and electroencephalographic (EEG) responses during the GIM session in order to gain understanding into the integrated neuronal and experiential demands of imaginal listening to music while in an altered state of consciousness (ASC). Neuroscience research has demonstrated the utility of EEG for investigating neuronal responses during ASCs, imagery, and music experiences. Additionally, several phenomenological studies have provided insight into the value and nature of client imagery in GIM contexts. Given evidence of both psychological and physiological benefits of the Bonny Method, and given the ever-growing neuroscience literature relating to phenomena occurring in GIM, there are likely relationships between participants’ imagery experiences and their brain behavior during a GIM session. This foundation justifies the use of neurophenomenology as a means of integrating individual participants’ EEG traces with their descriptions of their imagery experiences during a GIM session in order to obtain a description of the relationships between their subjective and neuronal phenomena. Keywords: Bonny Method, Guided Imagery and Music, neurophenomenology, EEG, Neuroimaging.

Protocol for a Neurophenomenological Investigation of a Guided Imagery and Music Experience (Part II)

This is Part II of a two-part article that includes a step-by-step description of the methodology undertaken in my study [1], as well as a discussion regarding the clinical implications of the data collection process. This application of neurophenomenology integrated individual experiential reports with EEG data to obtain a description of responses to a modified music and imagery (GIM) session based upon the Bonny Method of Guided Imagery and Music. This article details the methodological challenges in addressing such questions, and ways in which I sought to work around and with them. The process of analyzing both the subjective and neuronal data revealed interesting questions both about the nature of the GIM experience, as well as about the limitations of integrating these very different sets of data, including: To what degree can participants fully convey their experiences to a researcher, and by extension, to a GIM therapist? How do participants recall their imagery experiences after the session, and what does this mean for practitioners during the session? To what degree can neuronal activity be attributed to specific imagery or perceptual experiences? What does a productive session look like from a neurophenomenological perspective? Pursuing these questions can lead to greater understanding of the mechanism of GIM’s effectiveness. Keywords: Bonny Method, Guided Imagery and Music, neurophenomenology, EEG, Neuroimaging.

Special Edition: The effects of the Bonny Method of Guided Imagery and Music (GIM) on interpersonal problems, sense of coherence, and salivary Immunogloblin A of adults in chemical dependency treatment

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of the Bonny Method of Guided Imagery and Music (GIM) on interpersonal problems, coping measures and immune function in 19 adults in chemical dependency treatment for an average of 43 days. Psychological measures included the Inventory of Interpersonal Problems Short Circumplex Form (IIP-SC), the Sense of Coherence Scale (SOC) and physiological measure included salivary immunoglobulin A. Pre-test measures were collected at the initial interview session and post-tests at the final BMGIM session. Experimental subjects received one GIM session a week during their treatment. Results show significant decrease on the domineering, cold, and non-assertive subscales of the IIP-SC and on the manageability subscale of the SOC scale. The physiological measure of sIgA did not show a significant increase. The BMGIM appears to be effective in addressing issues underlying substance abuse, in addition showing a positive impact on physical health.