I sing for my soul Finding psychological and spiritual resources through music

Abstract

This article shows how music therapy provides a space to address severe psychological difficulties without necessarily verbalising them. Musical parameters affect human bodily and psychological experiences as well as the transcendental space, which can be difficult to capture or reach verbally. Ways of musically approaching them as dimensions of human life that hold important resources are exemplified in a case report about a patient suffering from the consequences of early childhood trauma and a severe mental disorder. He engages in a process of experiencing sound and rhythm through musical instruments as well as through his own body, which allows him to move from initially anxious attempts to cope with constant overstimulation towards the ability to consciously regulate himself and express his feelings, values and hopes. The patient’s wording often makes the music therapist think of a religious background that could provide spiritual resources. They seem to be part of his lived reality that is otherwise characterised by serious setbacks.