An abstract wave pattern in shades of blue, green, and white

Max’s Music Therapy Blog

To be oneself, that is what Carl Rogers informs the reader in his book On Becoming a Person. We’ve gone far from the psychologically healthy person. When we are clouded by social pressures and feeling as though we are to be something we are not, we get away from what is truly you, or me. But given the opportunity to be oneself and be fully received by another allows for the opportunity to accept oneself and be fully received by ourselves. This is often when change is possible.

It is like getting your emotions caught in a Chinese finger trap: only when you accept who you are and where you are emotionally can you set yourself free. And what’s that all about? The truth shall set you free. And what about music? I am a Music Therapist. Music contains the emotional qualities that resonate with the emotions trapped in your physical body. That knot in your stomach is both physical and emotional . . . and psychological. And it wants to be set free. When we are psychologically blocked and we go to see a therapist, a process that has been described as emotions “bubbling up,” again, quoting Rogers, happens. When we add music, it can reach down so deep and so fast that we may not be ready for it even though it is the place we must go to set ourselves free. This can be harmful without the proper support of a therapist.

And what about a therapist? And being fully received? Listening to that song or piece of music that reaches down into the deepest part of yourself makes the question “How are you feeling?” seem much simpler to convey when you have a form of audio production that can communicate the exact emotional frequency that your body is “resonating” at. Where there are different levels of understanding empathy is arguably the most effective and pure form of communication. If the therapist is emotionally open, then they may be able to receive what the client is communicating in a rich and deep way.

On the surface, we’re just two people listening to music but look deeper because there’s way more below the surface, and that’s where the answers to your own questions are.