Running Head: SOLVING UNRESOLVED CHILDHOOD TRAUMA THROUGH SINGING

Solving Unresolved Childhood Trauma Through Singing Diana Fox Molloy College

SOLVING UNRESOLVED CHILDHOOD TRAUMA THROUGH SINGING Before a child is born, he can hear the voice of his mother from within the womb. The bond, which is formed before and after birth, impacts a persons ability to value, explore, and develop his or her own identity. Many times, abandonment by ones mother during the infantile and early childhood stages severely impacts the health, individuality, and emotional stability of a person. The journal article In Search of Self: The Use of Vocal Holding Techniques With Adults Traumatized as Children (Austin, 2001), travels deep into a process of music psychotherapy for emotionally damaged adults whose lives are impeded by obstacles which occurred during their early stages of attachment. A review of this study will highlight and examine important features and methods as discussed by Austin in her article. The function of music in meeting the clinical goals will be identified along with and issues regarding transference and countertransference. Austins implementation of her own philosophies will be recognized and classified according to her treatment interventions. Following the review, a personal reaction and summary will conclude the paper and provide the reader with an educated perspective on the use of vocal holding techniques. Austin (2001) believes that the survival of a secure attachment between a child and primary caretaker relies on the emotional capacity of the primary caretaker. Children who are fostered in an unstable environment consisting of anxiety, aggression, violence or neglect are often stifled in establishing personal independence. As a result self-loss transpires and can present itself in many ways. Narcissistic, borderline, schizoid and other personality disorders are the terms that have been used to describe the wide range of symptoms and defenses that occur

SOLVING UNRESOLVED CHILDHOOD TRAUMA THROUGH SINGING when connection to ones authentic and vital center of being is broken (Austin, 2001, p. 22). Furthermore, children whose parents suffer from substance abuse and personality disorders are often unable to participate in meaningful relationships and are restrained in their own emotional vocalizations. Feelings and emotions then get imprisoned and manifested, leaving the traumatized adult disassociated and unable to make unions with life outside their own constrictions. Some adults choose to silence their own voices out of concern for their own safety. They may fear rejection and abandonment because of the disrepair felt in their own childhood experiences. Others do not know how to deliver their feelings and responses in a suitable manner. An adult may feel misunderstood because his needs and feelings cannot be openly conveyed to anther person. The feelings of being misunderstood may lead to extreme verbal eruptions. When needs and feelings remain unmetthe voice becomes inaudible, tight and tense, breathy and undefined, or simply untrue (Austin, 2001, p23). The lack of ones integrity or extreme verbal deliveries leads adults who are traumatized as children to often feel undervalued, abandoned, and cut off from the rest of the world. The neglect experienced as a child often obstructs any chance of getting close to others. Austin uses music to restore and recover the loss of ones true voice (Austin, 2001, p.23) through introspective and nurturing ways. Singing merges several key components during a clients recovery process. The author uses singing to stimulate the physiological responses required relaxation. Deep breathing

SOLVING UNRESOLVED CHILDHOOD TRAUMA THROUGH SINGING reduces the speed that our heart beats and alleviates any tension experienced within the nervous system. As a result, a state of tranquility and calmness can be attained. Once a client begins to connect with their physiological features the recovery process can begin to happen. As the mind and body begins to relax a persons natural energy can travel throughout the body with minimal restrictions. Returning the client to a natural state unlocks a passage for deep emotions to escape and prepares the individual for the next type of vocal intervention. Vocal holding techniques is another method Austin uses to work with adults who are traumatized as children. This method was developed by Austin and involves the intentional use of two chords in combination with the therapists voice in order to create a consistent and stable musical environment that facilitates improvised singing within the client therapist relationship (Austin, 2001, p.24). Using a structured two-chord accompaniment provides a stable, non-threatening atmosphere for the client to engage in vocal improvisations. It is through these improvisations with a combination of verbal processing, a client can begin to access their unconscious feelings and memories. Together with the therapist the pair can begin to explore and uncover traumatic experiences and events. In the case of Vicky, a high pitched, monotone, and quick speaking cellist, Austin believed that her client was consumed by sorrow and anger. As a child her parents were often catering to the demands of their full-time work schedules. Due to her parents physical and emotional unavailability, Vicky quickly learned to selfparent herself. Her father was often critical of her and held her to very high ideals. The anxiety and pressure Vicky felt growing up eventually manifested and triggered

SOLVING UNRESOLVED CHILDHOOD TRAUMA THROUGH SINGING Vickys psychosomatic symptoms during her adult years. Austin sensed that her suffering was related to the shame and guilt she felt acknowledging her feelings and the problems within her family (Austin, 2001, p.26). In almost every session Vicky described vivid dreams. A majority of these dreams often consisted of images of car crashes, wounded animals, and dismembered bodies (Austin, 2001, p.26). Austin felt that her clients dreams provided deep insight into her unconsciousness and unresolved issues of conflict and emotionally immature self. The therapist decided to use vocal holding techniques to investigate Vickys dreams. Instead of asking Vicky to interpret her dreams, Austin asked if she would like to explore them. Throughout Vickys melodic exploration of her dream, several physiological changes occurred. Her once monotone voice traveled freely up and down a full range of notes using monosyllabic tones like ah-h-h. There were confident ascending lines and sorrowful descending melodies full of feelings. She decorated chords with colorful tensions and extended rich tones. Her breathing became slow, supported, and controlled. Both client and therapist sang in unison and harmony. At the end of their improvisational session and after a few minutes of silence, Vicky was able to look deeply into her dream and confided in the therapist her true feelings of concern for herself and family. Austin describes Free Associative Singing as when words enter the vocal holding process. Using words throughout this process may allow the client to connect with unconscious images, memories, and associated feelings (Austin, 2001, p. 28). The therapist can direct the searching of ones unconsciousness by

SOLVING UNRESOLVED CHILDHOOD TRAUMA THROUGH SINGING selecting her own words to actively include in the musical stream of consciousness (Austin, 2001, p.28). This type of advancement can be used to address issues of transference and countertransference and utilize them in ways to promote the success of a client. When the therapist begins to make suggestions or enters a clients unconsciousness by questioning or examining a certain feeling the client may begin to perceive the therapist as maternal figure or other stable figure (Austin, 2001). The use of these techniques for adults traumatized as children will always lead to issues in situations of transference and countertransference. Fortunately, these issues can be used in a way to benefit the client. In the relationship between client and therapist, the facilitator often sees fractionalized, atypical behaviors. The musical relationship created between the client and therapist provides an opportunity for the therapist to become more of a parental figure. According to Austin: Singing together on the same notes can promote the emergence of a symbiosis-like transference and countertransference. This is important for clients who have never had a satisfactory experience of merging with an emotionally present, calm, consistent mother. Through a replication of early mother-child relatedness, these clients can eventually internalize a stable sense of self and individuation (2001, p.25). Musical interventions can reflect different types of exchanges and contacts between a child and the motherly figure. Vocal holding typically lends itself to fostering an exchange of positive transference satisfying the need of a client

SOLVING UNRESOLVED CHILDHOOD TRAUMA THROUGH SINGING searching for a stable and idyllic maternal model. In the case of Beth, the therapist found that eventually the client could express her anger toward me without experiencing abandonment or retaliation (Austin, 2001, p.25). These types of interventions are non-threatening ways to address issues of transference and countertransference for both client and therapist. Austin refers to Jungs philosophy of psyche when discussing her interventions and methodologies. In the beginning of her article the author identifies Jungs view of the complex components of the psyche. Jung believed that all individuals are created with equal parts of psyche and they are rooted in our central nervous system. When parts of our psyche are not stimulated or nurtured, Jung believed that our psyche will instinctually attack and suppress the inactive portions of our mind. An instinct does not respond to a stimulus willy-nilly. It is rather as if there were a pre-existing image which, in order for there to be a response, must find its receptor in the environment (Lawson, 2008, pg. 30.). Conscious inactiveness will generate parts of our psyche to shut down and withdraw from functioning awareness. When the part of our psyche that forms our identities and character is hindered, eventually an individual will experience selfloss. When all parts of our conscious mind is actively operating we can see more clearly the outlines of the concept of the collective unconsciousness (Lawson, 2008, p.32). The content of this study heavily focused on how severely a childs environment impacts their perception of self. It also examined the profound and almost enigmatic aspects of the unconscious mind and how music therapy is one

SOLVING UNRESOLVED CHILDHOOD TRAUMA THROUGH SINGING very efficient way of working with prisoners of childhood trauma. This highlights of this article demonstrated how music can connect different parts of our psyche. As a reader, I personally was impressed how structured singing of simple two-chord songs were used to peel back the layers of seclusion and abandonment experienced by victims of childhood trauma. I value the deep relationship shared between the client and therapist in this model of music psychotherapy. In this setting, the role of the therapist seemed to be in a very vulnerable and exposed position. The techniques facilitated by the therapist required much courage and poise because traveling into the unconscious to resurrect damaging childhood memories can be unpredictable. This article helped me understand how a therapist must take chances and be prepared for assorted reactions from traumatized clients.

SOLVING UNRESOLVED CHILDHOOD TRAUMA THROUGH SINGING References Austin, D, (2001). In Search of the Self: The Use of Vocal Holding Techniques with Adults Traumatized as Children. Music Therapy Perspectives, 19(1), 22-31. Lawson, T.T. (2008). Carl Jung, Darwin of the Mind. [DX Reader version}. Retrieved from http://site.ebrary.com/lib/molloy/docDetail.action?docID=10428121