“I Hear You”: The Potency of Play in Music Psychotherapy for Treating Trauma in Musicians

Ingrained in a musician's brain is a repeated prompt to attend to and produce sound. The distinct effort musicians make in performing and organizing creative ideas when rehearsing, teaching, or in the case of music therapists, treating, requires considerable focus, motivation, and sensitivity. Due to this heightened sensitivity, musicians are prone to anxiety and depression resulting from their acute attention to what is sensed and expressed. The rigors of performance itself are causal agents. Attending to the dynamics and meaning of sounds and the efforts required to develop and maintain fine motor, physical, and mental capacity through practice and performance of one's musical craft is not always easily endured. This chapter explores cumulative trauma disorders in musicians stemming from repetitive motion injuries, the pressures of performance, and family history that can all lead to performance anxiety. It also focuses on the author's practice of music psychotherapy to foster, develop, and maintain wellness through live, interactive music experiences as a means of treating and preventing trauma. A case example is included.