Micro moments of attunement with an adopted child: A single case study of intersubjective music therapy, with implications for the practice of music therapy enabling reparation of familial difficulties, within the adoption community.

This thesis describes the author’s research of her music therapy practice within the field of adoption. Her research is rooted in a needs-led collaboration within what she describes as the ‘adoption community’. The author has ‘lived-experience’ of the adoption community, of which she is both a member of, and therapist to.
Music therapy carries the potential for fertile, creative exchanges which can be described as ‘attunement’ (Stern 2010). The research focuses on the hypothesis that ‘micro moments’ of attunement might occur between the adopted client and the music therapist within the music therapy relationship.
The thesis describes a single case study which generated data that was subjected to a thematic analysis. By thematically analysing one case at a micro level, certain moments were identified within the music therapy that had therapeutic significance for the child concerned. ‘Adoption themes’ arising from the thematic analysis are explored. Then the author describes creating a theoretical approach for understanding these themes. The theory is built from the ground upwards, a meaning-making process starting from the client’s experience.
‘Micro moments of attunement’ describes the empathic unconscious emotional resonances (De Waal 2012) occurring within music therapy. Resonating relationships are vital for providing intersubjective fit between music therapist and client. The author examines ontological theories of both client’s and therapist’s states within the therapeutic encounter. (Driver 2013). The music therapist’s subjectivity is seldom examined yet plays a significant role in the co-construction of any therapeutic trajectory. This is even more significant when the music therapist shares lived experience with the client group (Kuchuck 2014).
Finally, the author presents an argument that music therapy is a well-placed creative arts therapy for adoptee’s, describing how this particular non-verbal modality might be used by adoptive families seeking support and especially for adoptive families referred to services with threat of family disruption.
References.
De Waal, M.W. (2012) What Makes Psychotherapy Work. New York/London. Routledge.
Driver, C. and Crawford, S. (2013) Being And Relating In Psychotherapy. London. Palgrave.
Kuchuck, S. (2014) Clinical Implications Of The Psychoanalysts Life Experience: When The Personal Becomes Professional. New York. Routledge.
Stern, D. (2010) Forms Of Vitality. Exploring Dynamic Experience In Psychology, The Arts, Psychotherapy, And Development. Oxford-New York: Oxford University Press.