This article was downloaded by: [Florida State University]On: 17 October 2014, At: 18:50Publisher: RoutledgeInforma Ltd Registered in England and Wales Registered Number: 1072954 Registeredoffice: Mortimer House, 37-41 Mortimer Street, London W1T 3JH, UK

Nordic Journal of Music TherapyPublication details, including instructions for authors andsubscription information:http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/rnjm20

“Burning Scripts”Even RuudPublished online: 10 Jul 2009.

To cite this article: Even Ruud (2003) “Burning Scripts”, Nordic Journal of Music Therapy, 12:2,115-123, DOI: 10.1080/08098130309478082

To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/08098130309478082

PLEASE SCROLL DOWN FOR ARTICLE

Taylor & Francis makes every effort to ensure the accuracy of all the information (the“Content”) contained in the publications on our platform. However, Taylor & Francis,our agents, and our licensors make no representations or warranties whatsoeveras to the accuracy, completeness, or suitability for any purpose of the Content. Anyopinions and views expressed in this publication are the opinions and views of theauthors, and are not the views of or endorsed by Taylor & Francis. The accuracy ofthe Content should not be relied upon and should be independently verified withprimary sources of information. Taylor and Francis shall not be liable for any losses,actions, claims, proceedings, demands, costs, expenses, damages, and other liabilitieswhatsoever or howsoever caused arising directly or indirectly in connection with, inrelation to or arising out of the use of the Content.

This article may be used for research, teaching, and private study purposes. Anysubstantial or systematic reproduction, redistribution, reselling, loan, sub-licensing,systematic supply, or distribution in any form to anyone is expressly forbidden. Terms& Conditions of access and use can be found at http://www.tandfonline.com/page/terms-and-conditions

RESEARCH ARTICLES

Nordic Journal of Music Therapy, 12(2) 2003, pp. 115-123.

"Burning Scripts" Self Psychology, Affect Consciousness, Script Theory and the BMGLM

Even Ruud

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to outline a sketch of a theory about how affect consciousness, script theory and self psychology may serve as a guiding theory for the practice of the Bonny Method of Guided Imagery and Music (BMGIM). Within self psychology, music may be understood as a selfobject which may have important self-sustaining functions for the individual. Within the theory of affect consciousness it is basic to allow clients to experience and tolerate their emotions fully, which is also important to the BMGIM experience. A script can be understood as a sort of underlying principle, or as a set of rules utilized by the person. When scripts are activated, possibilities arise to get to know the underlying dynamics of the person. In short, self psychology, script theory, and the theory of affect-consciousness offer a consistent theoretical approach to work with GIM as music therapy as well as an adjunct to the verbal modality.

Keywords: BMGIM, self psychology, music as a selfobject, affect, psychotherapy and music, script.

According to Tomkins's affect- and script Introduction theory, the affect system has certain properties that make affects central to the organization of The purpose of this article is to outline a sketch of a

self-experience. The theory of affect as theory about how affect consciousness, script amplification and fusion power refer to how theory and self psychology may serve as a guiding

affect fuse, both simultaneously and theory for the practice of the Bonny Method of sequentially, the cognitive, perceptual, and the Guided Imagery and Music (BMGIM). I understand

motoric aspects of an experience with the this method according to Bruscia (2002), as the continuing affect(s). These properties of the individual form of the Bonny Method: "a modality

affect system give affects a central status in the of therapy involving spontaneous imaging, organization of self-experience: It connects expanded states of consciousness, pre-designed

large amount of experiential information and classical music programs, ongoing dialogues during serves as a unifying core behind all these the music-imaging, and nondirective guiding variants and as the "psychic glue" in the techniques" (p. 59).

formation of scenes and scripts." (Monsen & During my own training as a BMGIM therapist Monsen, 1999, pp. 302-303) a r )d while serving as a guide, I found that what was

1 The theory and practice of self psychology, affect consciousness and script theory were introduced to me while I was a student in the clinical psychology program at the University of Oslo (see Hartmann, 2000; Monsen. 1997).

Nordic Journal of Music Therapy, 2003, 12(2)

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Flor

ida

Stat

e U

nive

rsity

] at

18:

50 1

7 O

ctob

er 2

014

EVENRUUD

happening during the sessions made sense when seen in the light of self psychology.1 Self psychology can be traced back to Kohut, who disputed Freud's theory of psychic forces and instead formulated his theory of motivation where interpersonal relations play a major role in the development of the individual's sense of having a coherent self. I found that how self psychology informed our way of doing verbal psychotherapy, with its emphasis on an empathic and confirming attitude, resonated with how interventions are carried through when serving as a guide and "fellow traveller" in the BMGIM. Within this theory, music may also be understood as a selfobject which may have important self-sustaining functions for the individual. Within the theory of affect consciousness it is basic to allow clients to experience and tolerate their emotions fully, which is also important to the BMGIM experience.

While "images" may be seen as "scenes" within this proposed theory, emotions released may inform us about a possible "script" that is idiosyncratic to the person experiencing the music. A script can be understood as a sort of underlying principle, or as a set of rules utilized by the person in handling various situations. When scripts are activated, or "heated," during the BMGIM, possibilities arise to get to know

some of the underlying dynamics of the person. This may again open some new possibilities to work in the verbal modality. In short, self psychology, script theory, and the theory of affect-consciousness, offer a consistent theoretical approach to work with GIM as music therapy, as well as an adjunct to the verbal modality.

The BMGIM Process and Its Context

I see the core of the BMGIM as the ability to create images under the context and conditions that are maintained during the journey. These images, as we know, emerge at different levels, as sensorial experiences, visual scenes, or language and thought figures. As we know from the literature, images may be placed in a number of different categories.

Images are the outcome of a multidimensional process where music, image, traveller, guide and the state of consciousness mutually influence one another. Images may be followed by the release of an affect, and affect may influence the production and content of an image. There is no linear or causal relationship between any components of the BMGIM experience. To understand the role of music, we could, in accordance with Gibson's ecological approach to perception, say that music has a phenomenological profile (Sloboda & Juslin, 2001) which affords affect to emerge (see Clarke, 2003; DeNora, 2000). This again may be due to the release of associations or external references made by music, or to our experience of structural expectations within music itself. We know these affective responses in the form of more or less delimited or categorical emotions, vague states of feelings (vitality affects), or more lasting moods. What seems particularly interesting in my project is to identify those moments in the flow of images where we can identify an explicit scene, that is, a particular constellation of a figure/ ground or an object with a concomitant emotion. Images are also often represented in a metaphorical form (see Bonde, 2000; Perilli, 2002) which may help therapist and client to identify core narratives in the client's life.

It should be added that the effects of music are obtained within a larger context of the BMGIM ritual,

EVEN RUUD Ph.D., Professor, Department of Music and Theatre, University of Oslo. Adjunct professor in music therapy, the State Academy of Music, Oslo. Ruud is trained as a music therapist at Florida State University (1973) and clinical psychologist at the University of Oslo (2002). He is about to finish his training in BMGIM. He has published several books about music therapy, music education, and music and cultural studies, including Music Therapy and its Relationship to Current Treatment Theories (1980), Musikken -vårt nye rusmiddel (1983), Music and Health (1986), Musikkfor øyel (I988), Musikk og verdier (1996), Musikk og identitet (1997), Music Therapy: Improvisation, Communication, and Culture (1998). Since 1978 Ruud has been an active participant in the training of music therapists and has held the position as the Head of the Department of Music and Theatre, University of Oslo for two periods. Address: Dept. of Music and Theatre, University of Oslo, P.O. Box 1017, Blindern, N-0315 Oslo, Norway. E-mail: even.mud@imt.uio.no

Nordic Journal of Music Therapy, 2003, 12(2)

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Flor

ida

Stat

e U

nive

rsity

] at

18:

50 1

7 O

ctob

er 2

014

"BURNING SCRIPTS...

which is framed by an introductory conversation as well as a post clarification and summary of the journey. Mandala drawings may be part of the session. Following the opening conversation and the formulation of a focus of concern, the traveller is led through a procedure of relaxation in order to prepare him or herself for this "inner journey." Music is selected from a range of programs with consideration to the agreed upon focus, and the traveller interacts verbally with the guide as the music enfolds and accompanies the journey. This quite idiosyncratic situation creates some implicit presuppositions, in addition to other elements usually contained within the therapeutic ritual, which will inform the production of images and their meanings, as well as the interpretation of images or identification of metaphors.

Travellers are informed. This means they know this ritual has to do with self-experience, psychotherapy, relaxation, or transpersonal experiences. "Images" are expected to appear in some form, and a certain emotional risk is involved. This puts the traveller in a certain mode of experiencing or frame of interpretation. I stress this broader contextual approach in order to underline how the effects and role of music are coloured by this particular cultural setting.

Music and Images as Selfobjects

Music is seen as a powerful affective experience that influences the individual's emotional self-

state. Music can be soothing, stirring, frightening, or relaxing, along with a myriad of other

experiences. People often listen to music to unwind, to energize, or to be inspired. In each

case, the musical listening experience provides a unique selfobject function.

(Sand & Levin quoted in Reinert, 2002, p.63)

As we perform as guides in the BMGIM, we want the traveller to be present in their images and affects, to experience details and nuances, and to trace their bodily sensations. As guides we aspire to be present, supportive, and affirmative with the traveller. We try to withhold our tendencies to intellectualise, 2 For more theory and clinical examples, see Bruscia (1?

control, direct, and interpret while the imaging is going on. In the postlude, or conversation afterwards, and with the help of our transcripts from the session, we help the traveller to recollect and become aware of details in the main figures, objects, narratives, and sceneries that have appeared.

Therapists have different styles of leading this part of the conversation following the musical journey, as they may be differently informed by their respective therapeutic ideologies. For some, instances of defence and resistance, as they have become manifest in the images, may become a point of departure in the summarizing conversation. In a comparison between the BMGIM and traditional psychoanalysis, Bjorn Wrangsjo writes about how "resistance" may appear in this process of music psychotherapy:

Resistance to the GIM process can also manifest as acting out, an inability to have images or a refusal to inform the therapist of the images. Resistance can be dealt with in several ways, including interpretation of transference. In GIM (as in dreams) the transformation of visual and kinaesthetic images often reflect the operation of defence mechanism. Emotionally charged (conscious and unconscious) images of threatening figures, or scary nature scenarios, change through defensive manoeuvres. (Wrangsjo, 1994, pp. 43-44)2

As Wrangsjo adds, "defensive manoeuvres are reflected in different kinds of images, often of a positive nature like any of the following: a helper rescuing the client from a threat, a supportive device which appears to facilitate the journey, a raft on a stormy sea, or a bridge over a rapidly moving river."

This particular way of representing such psychic forces also points to how phenomena, e.g. images, which may appear to be similar are given different significance within different theoretical contexts. As Wrangsjo and Korlin (1995) write: "In the psychodynamic area, the images can be seen as metaphors of conflict (Freud, 1961), internal objects (Mahler, Pine & Bergman, 1975) or sense of self (Stern, 1985)."

Following Wrangsjo (1994), Torben Moe (2002,

Nordic Journal of Music Therapy, 2003, 12(2) 111

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Flor

ida

Stat

e U

nive

rsity

] at

18:

50 1

7 O

ctob

er 2

014

EVENRUUD

p. 163) takes departure with a reference to Francis Goldberg. Here it is claimed how defence manoeuvres in the BMGIM "are an adaptive means of coping with deeply or potentially stressful threatening experiences. A defensive manoeuvre is essential to avoid fragmentation, or disintegration of the ego." Moe has experienced how certain images may come to strengthen the ego of the client, or even become what is called a selfobject within self psychology. Moe develops this idea further, and with support from data from his own research with patients suffering from schizophrenia, Moe sees these defence manoeuvres as "buffers" which may protect the self against overwhelming stimuli:

I also reach the conclusion that defensive manoeuvres can be 'assisting images' or assisting states which strengthen the ego. These images are often generated from the dynamic of the music, thereby having a vitalising effect, which the patient can absorb as a kind of 'empowerment' which again strengthens the patient's sense of their self. This is a configuration that gives the patient a feeling of resistance, which is of primary importance, as this is exactly what schizophrenic patients are often lacking. Whether this phenomenon can be categorized as defence manoeuvres is debatable. (Moe, 2002, p. 163, [emphasis in original])

Moe further suggests that such "assisting images" may be understood as a type of inner transitional objects in Winnicott's sense, where the patient "plays" with their inner forces. Moe also understands such "assisting images" or "safe places" as a "twin phenomenon'' or idealized seltbbjects, after Kohut. Such selfobjects may not be understood only as objects, which refer to significant persons or caregivers. Rather they can be seen as performing vitalizing, psychological functions which belong to the enduring maintenance, restitution and transformation of self-experience (Moe, 2002, p. 163). In the following, I will try to outline how the BMGIM may learn from self psychology in combination with affect- and script theory.

Nordic Journal of Music Therapy, 2003, 12(2)

Self Psychology and Therapeutic Change An important question seems to be whether it really matters how BMGIM-therapists place themselves in relation to different paradigms of psychotherapy. Bruscia (2002) suggests that the role of music in GLM may determine if GIM is music therapy, or rather an adjunct to another modality, such as verbal discourse. How music is understood within different traditions of psychotherapy may then influence how the BMGIM is conceived and practiced.

In my own experience as a guide I have felt some ambivalence towards the tradition within psychodynamic theory that emphasizes concepts of transference, defence and resistance as the foundation for therapeutic interventions (see Sigrell, 2000; Mitchell & Black, 1995). The question raised in the following is if recent understandings from self psychology may serve as an alternative in understanding the experience and process of the BMGIM.

Self psychology can be traced back to Kohut who disputed Freud's theory of psychic forces and developed a new theory of motivation about how psychic structures develop and are maintained, and how psychic disturbances may arise (Hartmann, 2000, p. 25, author's translation). According to Hartmann, Kohut saw how individuals were not driven by wishes to satisfy their needs, but by an inner force which struggles to create interpersonal experiences that can awaken, maintain, and develop the individual's sense of having a coherent self. The main force in our life is our wish to feel ourselves as whole, vital, valuable and understood by significant others, not the satisfaction of sexual and aggressive wishes, forces, and needs. In this sense, our relation to others, our ways of tuning in with others in a mutual "being-with," may be foregrounded in the self psychological approach.3

Self psychologists claim that we are equipped with an inborn, rudimentary self, which is developed in interaction with others. According to Hartmann, the concept of a selfobject to Kohut meant other persons, which through certain actions and ways

' Gro Trondalen suggests that Daniel Stern's concept of "attunement" may lead to changes in the way interventions are performed during the listening part of the ritual, compared to therapists informed by theories infused by notions of conflict and defence (Trondalen. private conversation).

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Flor

ida

Stat

e U

nive

rsity

] at

18:

50 1

7 O

ctob

er 2

014

"BURNING SCRIPTS...

of being support the individual's experience of their self. In this way, other persons perform selfobject functions by giving us a sense of vitality, coherence, safety and competence. "A nurturing selfobject environment must meet the individual's need for attachment, community and affirmation in order for the self to develop into a mature, self-regulating system," Hartmann (2000, p. 25) writes.

I claimed earlier that not only humans may serve selfobject functions. In addition, animals, nature, art, and culture - not least music and images - may come to assist in establishing such a nurturing selfobject environment.

This understanding has important consequences for our ways of meeting the client. In short, self psychologists acknowledge that development may be arrested when the individual's need for affirmation and a lack of adequate selfobjects are not present. Insight is not the main aim of the therapy. Instead, it is to give the client an experience of being understood. This process is the way to a "repairment" of the self, to the formation of a new psychic structure. Our sense of self becomes more vital and stronger when we experience an attachment to others. This may increase our ability to care for ourselves and others, to receive care, to show empathy towards ourselves and others, and to become more explorative as well as to experience hope (Hartmann, 2000, p. 29).

Psychotherapy may take its departure in model scenes as the client recollects them. These may represent traumatic experiences, as they are re-enacted in the present in a concealed or twisted way. In the therapeutic reconstruction, self psychologists emphasize the need to approach the client with an empathic understanding rather than with a neutral or withdrawn attitude. Self psychologists are not adherents of the doctrine of abstinence; rather they seek to become optimal respondents. Kohut saw empathy as the ability to place ourselves "in the shoes" of the client, and consequently to try to experience both cognitively and emotionally how situations may have affected the subjective experiences of the client. Kohut saw this empathic attitude in itself as having a healing effect upon the client.

To become optimally respondent means to take better care of the client compared to what may have

been experienced by the client as a child. The idea is to give the client a "corrective emotional experience" through being emotionally present and available, predictable, respectful, and responsible for the therapeutic process in the affirmative as well as interpretative interventions. Interpretation, however, is subordinate to our intention to stay empathically present in order to strengthen the self of the client. Compared to other forms of more traditional psychotherapy, self psychology understands interpretation in the direction of "empathic restructuring interpretations." This means that they try to understand the client's problems, thoughts, feelings, wishes, and fantasies in a historical perspective. Clients have to see that the way they still meet problems are repetitions of strategies of mastery and self-maintenance which at one time were necessary but are no longer functionally operative.

Finally, what is seen as "resistance" in the client is understood as a way to protect themselves. But instead of tracing this resistance by carefully describing and ascribing it to the client, self psychologists see resistance as an empathic failure on the part of the therapist that makes the client insecure. If the therapist takes the responsibility for his part, it may be possible to identify what has released the fear and thus continue the therapeutic work.

Affect Consciousness and the BMGIM Interventions As I pointed to earlier, this therapeutic attitude seems to resonate with much of the interventions made during the BMGIM guiding. It may also inform the postlude conversation. What seems essential to the BMGIM experience is to help the traveller to hold on to emotions and basic bodily sensations which signal that something significant is emerging. Through the supportive, mirroring interventions, and sometimes by carefully directing the attention towards details in the images, we want to strengthen the subjective experience of the traveller. Summarizing the guiding techniques, I have experienced four basic principles which I would highlight: 1) The wish to increase the traveller's awareness; 2) to increase the integration between

Nordic Journal of Music Therapy, 2003, 12(2) 1 1 9

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Flor

ida

Stat

e U

nive

rsity

] at

18:

50 1

7 O

ctob

er 2

014

EVENRUUD

emotions and the sense of coherence between the body and mental processes; 3) to install in the travellers increased confidence in their own subjective experiences; and 4) to support in the development of a fantasy which helps to produce scenarios which are subjectively acknowledged and felt by the client.

Thus, the guide tries to attune with the traveller, to contain and validate any expression on behalf of the client, through an empathic attitude, much in the same way as outlined above. This attitude is taken when travellers come to the session in order to initiate a process of self-understanding, to get to know themselves better, to explore and develop. If individuals come with psychotherapeutic needs, we will find that the individual may not have access to their emotions, or allow themselves to trust their own perceptions of what is going on inside. Sometimes individuals may have imported their interpretations of their own emotions or self-experiences from others, rather than learnt how to trust their own subjectivity.

Kohut held the view that the integration of affect states is central to the development of self-regulatory capacities and to the structuralization of self-experience (Monsen & Monsen, 1999). In their work on affect theory, Monsen and Monsen present a model of affect consciousness and how it can serve the understanding of therapeutic processes. The authors describe the concept of affect consciousness (AC) as "the mutual relationship between activation of basic affects and the individual's capacity to consciously perceive, reflect on and express these affect experiences. AC is defined and operationalized as degrees of awareness, tolerance, nonverbal expression, and conceptual expression of.. .nine specific affects... (p. 288). These affects are listed as interest/excitement, enjoyment/ joy, fear/panic, anger/rage, humiliation/shame, sadness/despair, envy/jealousy, guilt/remorse, and tenderness/devotion.

A group of researchers have also developed a semi-structured affect consciousness interview (ACI) and separate affect consciousness scales (ACS) to assess these aspects of affect integration. The hypothesis behind the development of this tool was that "a generally low level of affect consciousness would imply a disturbance of the

adaptive functions of affects in the organization of self-experience" (Monsen & Monsen, 1999, p. 289). The level of AC may interfere with the capacity to represent oneself interpersonally, because:

- The capacity to use affects as signals and as conveyers of meaningful information is deficient.

- Motives for actions are vague (both regarding one's own and other person's actions).

- Self-boundary formation is deficient, which implies reduced capacity to form mutual relationships.

- Contact with a basic sense of self is lost. - Ambitions are curbed and the pursuit of goals

is thwarted. - Reorganization of cognitive structures like

central images, fixed belief-systems, or rigid systems of expectations is more difficult (Monsen & Monsen, 1999, p. 289).

And the authors add, "conversely, a high degree of affect consciousness should imply that activation of affects will serve adaptive purposes and should accordingly be associated with generally sound level of mental health" (Monsen & Monsen, 1999, p. 289).

Although there are no regularities in the production of images, or in the categories of emotions displayed within the BMGIM sessions, I would claim that it is in the nature of music to afford many of the same or similar emotions as listed in the ACI. What seems to be important to my argument, however, is that the BMGIM experience stimulates the production of images and emotions and this may be of central importance to the nature of the BMGIM and should therefore guide our theory as well as our ways of performing the role of the guide or therapist.

Scenes and Scripts

According to Silvan Tomkins, emotional experiences are organized at two levels, as "scenes" and as "scripts" (Monsen, 1997, p. 98). Monsen writes that a scene is put together of a feeling attached to an object or a theme, in addition to an event which includes persons, places, time, actions, bodily

Nordic Journal of Music Therapy, 2003, 12(2)

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Flor

ida

Stat

e U

nive

rsity

] at

18:

50 1

7 O

ctob

er 2

014

"BURNING SCRIPTS...

experiences. What is mean by a "script," can be illustrated with an example from a BMGIM session:

A man in his middle fifties was given the program "Mythic Journey" in order to explore his life narrative in a perspective informed by the music. This program contains some rather forceful pieces of music, which may challenge and stimulate a dramatic enactment of a life story. At the time, our traveller was preoccupied with existential questions like meaning of life, how to organize time, remembering the past, and death. "What kind of life had this been so far, and what may be expected in the future?" was the rather broad focus set up at the outset of the journey.

The first piece of music in this program is Minuet and Musette from Vaughan Williams's Concerto for Obo and Chamber Orchestra. From the transcripts from this part of the journey we can read what was going on in his imaging:

Young man talks to the group. Everyone is a bit enthusiastic and I am tempted to withhold. It is up to me to make the decision. Very convincing. Everyone seems to agree, they all argue where they will go. I give up and only want to listen to the discussion. I become impatient and look at a broad landscape. I see camels and we are standing with them. One person is talking, but I am the leader. Nobody will tell what is going to happen; I just wait until they are finished. Then it is over.

In this short sequence we can see a series of separate and changing scenes, sometimes with a concomitant feeling, which are organized into a short narrative. First we see the scene with a young man talking to the group. Here two emotions are described, enthusiasm leading to holding back and the sense of responsibility. Then there is a scene where the group is arguing, which is followed by withdrawal and a feeling of impatience. This leads the person to look away in a new direction. And when someone else takes the lead, the traveller becomes somewhat frustrated and decides to ignore the situation until the issue seems to dissolve when the music ends.

If we ask if there is an organizing structure behind this chain of scenes or events, we ask about an underlying "script." According to Monsen, the term

"script" refers to "underlying principles for the organization of scenes, for instance a set of rules the individual has acquired for prediction, interpretation, handling of forms of reactions and control of repeating experiences" (Monsen, 1997, p. 98). A script is an underlying structure, a way to organize and make order out of experience, which is independent of the specific situation and context and emerges in different scenes.

If we look closer at the script which appears in the situation above, it informs about a person who experiences an ability to convince but at the same time is reminded about his responsibility. Competing views are met by impatience and instead of interfering he turns away to explore something else. This reduces his frustration and creates a sense of patience until things dissolve by themselves.

In script theory one may talk about "core-scripts" and "model scenes" which implie that some events are more central to the person than other. It is thought that the number and variations of scripts are basic to the construction of the self (Monsen & Monsen, 2000, p. 77). Some scripts seem to be more important than others, especially those adaptive scripts which maintain vitality in the core self. The concept of a core script points to the existence of a few organizing principles that take care of the most pressing needs of the person. Often a core scene may be described as a good scene which is transformed into a rather unpleasant one. The dynamics of the core script seem to be the effort to reverse the core scene; that is, to turn the unpleasant scene back to the good one.

As we have seen, the BMGIM offers many possibilities to activate scripts in general, as well as core scripts. In therapy, understanding this dynamics may be an important part in self-understanding, self-development, and change. In self psychology it is important, as we have seen, to let patients come into contact with model scenes in their lives, in order to experience how they felt and reacted. This identification may often come through as a cognitive process, resulting in an intellectual understanding. However, as we understand, emotions play a crucial role both in the identification and transformation of scripts. "Heating the script" may offer the possibility of recognizing the dynamics behind our idiosyncratic ways of reacting. Burning the

Nordic Journal of Music Therapy, 2003, 12(2)

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Flor

ida

Stat

e U

nive

rsity

] at

18:

50 1

7 O

ctob

er 2

014

EVENRTJUD

maladaptive scripts may offer a possibility to replace these with scripts better suited to cope with current problems. But this requires both an ability to identify and tolerate emotions as well as an opportunity to express the emotions verbally. This may be taken care of by introducing clients to different programs and by carefully guiding them through a broad landscape of scenes and emotions. I will postulate that the BMGIM offers a way to intensify this process, something most BMGIM therapists have experienced quite often.

A last comment should be made on the conversation following the listening part. As we know from the study of imagery, autobiographical imagery is only one among several ways to react to the music. Often images come to us in symbolic and metaphorical form. In the reflective conversation the traveller is given the opportunity to express and reflect upon their images and scripts. An important skill for the guide is also to help individuals recognize how images may be important metaphoric expressions about important issues in their lives. In this last order of events, metaphorical integration leading to a new understanding of a life narrative may be of primal concern.

Conclusion

If we try to outline the whole BMGIM process in terms of this theoretical understanding, we can identify a certain order of events. First we have seen how the BMGIM facilitates the release and construction of emotions and images. These may be organized within scenes and identified as characteristic scripts which inform us about how the client/traveller tends to meet situations in general. The activation of emotions in the form of scripts gives the client/traveller an opportunity to be conscious of, tolerate, verbalize, express, and reflect upon their emotions. The personally felt and subjectively experienced state may help the client/ traveller to gain contact with his or her self and to reorganize the scripts. Being contained by an empathic guide may help clients to accept their feelings and recognize and accept the ownership of their own emotions. Following self psychology, this may help the person to integrate their feelings and

to maintain a sense of coherence. If model scenes are identified and given a direct or metaphorical description, possibilities arise for organizing life events into a new narrative.

In this sense, self psychology, as a theoretical approach to the understanding of the experience and process of the BMGIM, allows for transformation to happen through the music listening experience itself. When music is understood as a selfobject, the self-sustaining as well as transformative needs of the client will be taken care of. As we have seen, the function of a selfobject is to maintain, support, and confirm the individual. In this sense, this self-psychological frame allows for music and images within the BMGIM to shape the sustaining and transformational process. At the same time, self psychology may serve as a guiding theory in the psychotherapeutic process where the BMGIM is adjunct to another modality.

Literature

Bonde, Lars Ole (2000). Metaphor and Narrative in Guided Imagery and Music. Journal of The Association for Music and Imagery, Vol. 7, pp. 59-76.

Bruscia, Kenneth (Ed.) (1998). The Dynamics of Music Psychotherapy. Gilsum, NH: Barcelona Publishers.

Bruscia, Kenneth (2002). The Boundaries of Guided Imagery and Music (GIM) and the Bonny Method. In: Bruscia, Kenneth E. & Grocke, Denise E. (Eds.). Guided Imagery and Music: The Bonny Method and Beyond. Gilsum, NH: Barcelona Publishers.

Clarke, Erik F. (2003). Music and Psychology. In: Clayton, Martin, Herbert, Trevor & Middleton, Richard (Eds.) The Cultural Study of Music. A Critical Introduction. New York and London: Routledge.

DeNora, Tia (2000). Music in Everyday Life. Cambridge. Cambridge University Press.

Hartmann, Ellen (2000). Fra drift til selv: Konsekvenser for dynamisk psykoterapi. In: Holte, Arne; Rønnestad, Michael H. & Nielsen, Geir Høstmark (Eds.). Psykoterapi

Nordic Journal of Music Therapy, 2003, 12(2)

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Flor

ida

Stat

e U

nive

rsity

] at

18:

50 1

7 O

ctob

er 2

014

"BURMNG SCRIPTS...

og psykoterapiveiledning. Teori, empiri og praksis [Psychotherapy and Counselling in Psychotherapy: Theory, Data and Practice]. Oslo: Gyldendal Akademisk.

Mitchell, Stephen A. & Black, Margaret J. (1995). Freud and Beyond. A History of Modern Psychoanalytic Thought. New York: Basic Books.

Moe, Torben (2002). Restitutional Factors in Receptive Group Music Therapy Inspired by GIM. Nordic Journal of Music Therapy, Vol. 11, no. 2,pp.l52-166.

Monsen, Jon T (1997). Selvpsykologi og nyere affektteori. In: Karterud, Sigmund & Monsen, Jon T (Eds.). Selvpsykologi. Utviklingen etter Kohut [Self Psychology. The Development After Kohut]. Oslo: Ad Notam Gyldendal.

Monsen, Jon T. & Monsen, Kirsti (1999). Affect and Affect Consciousness: A Psychotherapy Model Integrating Silvan Tomkins's Affect-and Scripts Theory Within the Framework of Self Psychology. In: Goldberg, Arnold (Ed.). Progress in Self Psychology: Vol 15. Pluralism in Self Psychology. Hillsdale: The Analytic Press.

Monsen, Jon T. & Monsen, Kirsti (2000). Affekter og affektbevissthet: Et bidrag til integrerende psykoterapimodell. In: Holte, Arne; Rønnestad, Michael H. & Nielsen, Geir Høstmark (Eds.). Psykoterapi og psykoterapiveiledning. Teori, empiri og

praksis [Psychotherapy and Counselling in Psychotherapy: Theory, Data and Practice]. Oslo: Gyldendal Akademisk.

Perilli, Gabriella Giordanella (2002). The Role of Metaphor in the Bonny Method of Guided Imagery and Music (BMGIM). In: Bruscia, Kenneth E. and Grocke, Denise (Eds.). Guided Imagery and Music. The Bonny Method and Beyond. Gilsum, NH: Barcelona Publishers.

Reinert, Finn (2002). Musikken og selvet. lmpuls. Tidsskrift for psykologi, Vol. 56, no. 2-5, pp. 58-67.

Sigrell, Bo (2000). Psykoanalytisk orienterad psykoterapi. En introduktion [Psychoanalytic Oriented Psychotherapy. An Introduction]. Stockholm: Natur och Kultur.

Sloboda, John A. & Juslin, Patrik N. (2001). Psychological Perspectives on Music and Emotion. In: Juslin & Sloboda (Eds.). Music and Emotion, Theory and Research. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Wrangsjo, Bjom (1994). Psychoanalysis and Guided Imagery and Music (GIM): A Comparison. Journal of the Association for Music and Imagery, Vol. 3, pp.35-48.

Wrangsjo, Bjom & Korlin, Dag (1995). Guided Imagery and Music as a Psychotherapeutic Method in Psychiatry. Journal of the Association for Music and Imagery, Vol. 4, pp. 79-92.

Nordic Journal of Music Therapy, 2003, 12(2) 1 2 3

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Flor

ida

Stat

e U

nive

rsity

] at

18:

50 1

7 O

ctob

er 2

014