MUSIC THERAPY
Issued by the Supreme Council of the ROSICRUC ROSICRUCIIAU ORDER, A. M.O M. O. R. C. Copyright, 19^6
MJ-108-549
MUSIC THERAPY
By Dr. K. Arvis Talley Of the Rose-Croix Therapeutic Research Institute, Inc. ’’Moth ’’Mother, er, make John John l e t me l i s t e n to mj; r a d i o program! He g et s i n from school f i r s t and turns on on those o ld cow cowboy boy songs, and nobod nobody y vant s to hear them them! " "They "They do, do, too ; t he y’ d a thou thousa san nd times times rat he r l i s t e n to cow cowboy songs songs than to Joh Johnny nny Cinnabar Cinnabar an and his spoon-swooning, and th a t ’ s a l l she wants ants to hear! She just ju st s i t s ther t here e an and sighs si ghs an and b li nk s her eyes and listens to that drip'." As mother straightens out this tangle, she does not dare reveal that she would ould much ra th er l i s t e n to a few ol d- fas hio ne d walt zes or some soothing symphonic music than to the programs preferred by her children. I t has has been been said that music sic is the unive rs al l anguage, anguage, f o r i t is understood understood an and appr ec iat ed by a l l pers ons, even thou though gh language language an and race ra ce ma may have have not hing hi ng i n common. Music Music de a ls wi th the s t u f f that emo emo ti on i s made of , and i s , t he re fo re , si mi la r to drea dream ms. In our our drea reams we oft en express express the the f u lf i ll m e n t of those those wish wishes es we dare dare not not voi ce whi le awak awake, e, an and our our choi ce o f mus music, ic, q ui te f re qu en tl y , is of the sa same nature. John ohnny, in his pref ere nce o f cow cowboy boy song songs, s, in di ca te s t hat he appreciates the wildly romantic side of his masculine nature--that of trusty guns and faithful steeds, black mustached villains who are van quish quished ed a ft e r a t e r r i f i c , tw o- fis ted onsla onslaug ught ht of pure brawn. Big s is ter portrays the eager adolescent whose thinking rhymes with moon and June, which whic h no lang la ngua uage ge,, no ma matt te r how d e l i c a t e , could cou ld expr ex pr ess es s wi t hout ho ut turning these thoughts to dust. Mother ’ s pre fe ren ce wou would be e i th e r that whic which h helped her her to r e live irresponsible youth, as in the case of the waltz, or the symphonic music sic which which would ould carr y her, ment all y, awsy from a sink f u l l of d i r t y di she s, wash day, day, an and a hot hot s tov e. The wishes of a l l th re e, as ex hi b ited by their musical liking, are an endeavor at an escape, not from l i f e i t s e l f , but but from from the the imm immedia ediate te emotional emotional experienc es which which must be face fa ced d by each. These These ob se rv at i ons we know to be be tr ue , and the y have have af fo rd ed the the basi s f o r a theor y of musical musical therapy which which we sh al l no now consider. The The we l l - r o un de d, w e l l - a d j u s t e d i n d i v i d u a l i s one one who know knows s some some thing o f a l l phas phases es of emotional ex pe rie nce . He must be capable of laughing, laughing, cr ying, sweatin sweating, g, "c urs ing ," lo vi ng , and worshiping--each in it s prope properr place. The well-rou well-rounde nded d individual w i ll also apprecia appreciate te a ll forms of musical expression, and, in this individual, the appropriate music usic w i l l conjure up the corr esp ondi ng mo mood in pro po rt io n to the i n t e n s i t y o f the the musical musical stimulus. Seldom eldom does does an in d iv id ua l, however, however, r e a l l y re c e iv e an an int ens e musical musical sti mulus. Music is as common to ou our l i v e s as bread, meat, meat, an and rai ment. I t is so common, in f a c t , th at a certain resistance has been built up to it, and, upon hearing a selec ti o n play ed, seld seldom om does does the the hearer hearer bl ock out out the the other sen sense f a c u l t i e s and l i s t e n to mu music sic alone f o r i t s own sake sake..
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Many different forms of music therapy have been developed in the past past few years. Some types of t hi s therapy are are di re ct ed at quie ti ng and reassuring; others tend to eliminate pain and promote the feeling of wel l-b ein g; s t i l l others others str ive at implan implanting ting a challenge challenge in the the mind ind and the the heart of the a f f l i c t e d . The type type of therapy to be d i s cussed here is directed at stirring the emotions and liberating exces sive nervous tension and is of most value in treating those disorders of the body which are chronic, but not necessarily traumatic. It is based upon the theory that within all of us are certain in completely repressed desires, drives, urges, and emotions which are in c o n fl ic t with with cert ain other other fact ors of the the pers onal ity. These in incom p le te ly represse repressed, d, h os til e urg urges act act as whirlpools, sho rt- cir cui tin g and deflecting the energy which should flow throughout the body and maintain normal health, and which, in their present state of existence, act as barriers to the strength and feeling of well-being which should be the right of everyone. The The emot em ot io nal na l cons co nsci ci ous ness ne ss o f man i s s t r a t i f i e d s i m i l a r l y t o a cross secti on of a gia nt tr ee . The emoti emotion ons s of childho childhood od w i l l be tie d in with the the f o l k songs songs and d i t t i e s learned at that time. time. Fuberty Fuberty and adolescence w i l l ad add s t i l l another another stratum of emotional music. music. Memorie ories s of courtship and marriage can be revived by hearing songs from that stratum of l i f e , and so on to the pre sent age, each few yea rs having i t s popular song songs, s, ba ll ad s, hymns, and ha rm oni es -- al l r ic h wi th emotional assoc ia ti on s. Emotions, Pleasant and Unpleasant Emotio Emotions ns are are usua ll y o f two two nat ure s- -p le asa nt an and unpleasant. The memories of those which are pleasant are usually associated with the in di vi d ua l’ s e f fo r t s , while those those which hich are are unple unpleas asan antt are are usually as as soc iat ed or blam lamed upon the the e f f o r t s o f oth er s. For example, example, the the chil d does not remem remembe berr the ma many, ma many times ti mes t hat i t s parent par ent s sang sang i t to sl ee p, but but i t w i l l rem rememb ember the the time time that a parent san sang i t to sl eep a f t e r i t had been punished or ha had been inj ur ed in some way. ay. Within the the per so na li ty there ex is ts the the memory of a l l the the expe rie nc es to which hich the the indi vi du al ha has been been subjec ted. There There w i l l be be ce r ta in conscious conscious memo emories ries which which can can be re ca ll ed at w i l l , and there w i l l be ce rt ai n experi ences whic which h can cannot not be re c al le d . Thes These e exper ience s, which which l i e beyo beyon nd the poi nt of r e c a l l , are there bec becau ause se the the impressions at the time were not deep enough to be noticed, or they were of such minor nature that they have been crowded out by more important memories, or becaus because e t h e i r unpleasantness wa was so so gr ea t that i t was to the advan advan tage tage of the the ego ego to fo rg et the the par tic ula r experience. This This la t t e r fa c tor can be extremely important in the development of the personality. Practically every adult knows that to put the hand into a flame, or to brin g the the ha hand in contact with a hot hot o bj ec t, w i l l re su lt in a burn, rn, ye y e t v e r y few fe w adul ad ul t s r e c a l l when t h i s l e s s on was l e a r ne d ; however, howev er, at the tim time e of th the fi r s t experie experience nce with with f i r e , it s properties we were in d e li bly engraved upon the consciousness and certain behavior patterns were est abl ish ed w ith in the the consciousn consciousness ess whi which ch are are s t i l l used by the the
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pe rs on al it y even even thou though gh the the f i r s t pai nfu l stimulu stimulus s ha has receded receded past past the the point of recall. In every pe rs on al it y there are ma many other si mi la r exper iences which which have, have, f o r l ik e reasons, been fo r g o tt en . Many of these are so charged with emotional content that even a symbolical recollection is of such strengt h that the the ind ivid ual act ua lly re li v e s the the unple unpleasan asant t ness ness fe l t at that time. For examp example, le, a ch il d migh mightt have ave attended th the fu ne ra l o f a loved one, and seeming ly had h ad entirely forgotten the expe rience, and yet, the sight or odor of a white carnation could plunge the the i nd iv id ua l int o a mood of desp ai r, years l a t e r , and the the reason fo r the the t e r r i f y i n g mo mood would would be en t i r e l y un unknown to the person. person. Thi s mechan echanism ism i s common i n the b u i l d i n g o f p e r s o n a l i t y and has has been gi ve n the na name of "engram" "engram" by ps y ch o l o g is ts , which means that th at a ce rt ai n type type of behavior is pe rsis ted in, even even af te r the stimu stimulus lus pro ducing such behavior haslong haslong since been been fo rg o tt en . One of the the char a c t e r i s t i c s of the the en engram gram is that i t s e f f e c t ma may be prod produc uced ed by any any one of seve ral sym symbols ols which hich are are associ ated wit h the the i n i t i a l stimulus. stimulus. As in the above example of the person who became moody in the presence of white ca rnati ons, depres sion mig might ht probably probably also be be f e l t upon seeing a hearse or observing any one of a number of factors which would be asso ci at ed with emotional emotional experie nce at the the time time of the the fun era l, even even though the entire picture would have been erased from memory. It is the rule that engrams arising from sorrow, disappointment, embarrassment, and frustration are responsible for the basic personali t y c o n f l i c t s wh whi ch ch r e s u l t i n f a t i g u e , l a s s i t u d e , and d e b i l i t y . I t is also the rule that as the conflicts become numerous and the daily ob st ac le s bec become more and more ore d i f f i c u l t to surm surmou ount nt,, the the in di vi d ua l seeks many ways of escaping these conflicts raging within his being. The The p er s o n ' s choi ch oi ce o f music, at t h i s ti me, becom becomes more and more ab st ra ct , depen dependin ding, g, of course, up upon the the in d iv id u a l’ s music appr eci ati on. However, musical abstraction is not chosen only by the escapist, but, as a l l persons persons be become more mature, ature, the app re ci at io n fo r ab st ra ct mus music ic increas es, and we fin d that the ir guiding i dea l i s usually symbo lica lly represent ed by some type type of music musical al ab str act io n. I t is pos si bl e, in fact, to trace an individual's maturity by the type of music for which he shows a pe rs is te nt pre fer enc e. In infa ncy an and ea r ly childhood, rhyt rhyth hm alone alone is appr ecia ted . A l i t t l e la t e r i n the the develo developm pment ent conies ies the ap pr ec ia ti on of melody. melody. Harmo rmony is ap pre ci ate d at abou aboutt the tw elf th year. The appreciation of abstract music, sic, or or p ic to r ia l asso ciative music, must come with maturity. The The Age Age or Time Time F a c t o r Let us consider one other psychological principle--the factor of ti me. Many embarrassments embarrassments are such such on ly because of the ti me el ement eme nt.. A child of f iv e , playing with other other children, is constantly thwa thwarte rted, d, and, and, as a r e s u l t , he takes hi s marbles an and goes goe s home. This Thi s beha be ha vi or I s qu it e in keeping wit h the age of the the ch il d. Howev owever, er, by his s ix th ye y e a r , he has has overcome t h i s tendenc te ndency y and now competes r e a d i l y wi th ot he r ch il dr en ; however, his pl aymates, one day, ma may mention mention that he he is a baby baby and ther th ereby eby rem remind him o f hi s pre vi ous ou s beh av io r. He i s no now
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embarrassed upon having this memory returned to him and secretly -waits until he can "get something" with which to torment the friends who are responsible for this recollection. In l i k e mann manner er,, the maladjusted be hav io r in keeping wit h one age age o f development beco becom mes the em embarrass barrassm ment o f a l a t e r age. The The "puppy "puppy love" crush of ten becomes a source of embarrassment to the sophisticate of seventeen. The characte r-shaki ng de cis io ns of twe nt y- fi ve be become f o l l i e s to the the sag aci ty of t h ir t y , and so on throu through gh the the hourglass of life . Each age meets eets cr is es with the the appropriate appropriate gr a vi ty only to con con si de r the the ac ti on s, pe cu li ar to each each age, wi th a ce rt ai n am amount of em barrassment as more ma tu ri ty de ve lo ps . No matt er ho how one one age age of maturi ty ma may laugh laugh or j e s t abou aboutt the t i c k l i s h si tu at io ns which were con conqu quere ered d at an an e a r li e r age, age, s t i l l there there i s a ce rt ai n am amount of emotiona emotionall tension tension,, embarrassment, and frustration pushed back into that part of the con sci ousnes s which which does not choose choose t o rem remem embe berr an and canno cannott v o l i t i o n a l l y give an emotional release. In treat ing a ll individuals wh who are chronica lly i l l , i t is neces neces sary that the emotional l i f e be cleansed an and rea dju st ed as we ll as the the phys ical bod body. y. I f a psyc holog ical analysi s were ere run run in every case, case, there is no dou doubt that i t wou would be h e lp fu l; however, however, i t is an expensive and timetime-co con nsum suming ing labor, and, i f the the indiv idu al is s u ff i c ie n t ly we ll adjusted, a l i t t l e need eed fo r suc such proc proced edur ure e is re al iz ed . Howev owever er,, by by recourse to music therapy, such a cleansing can be accomplished and thi s ca thars is w il l be be of great value value to those those who pa rt ic ip at e in i t . Since ma many of our our fr us t ra t io n s are such such beca becaus use e of the the time time e l e ment, and, since music has the power to symbolically resurrect the emo tional content of the engram, then by applying certain selected types of music, the emotional content can be brought to the threshold of con sciousness an and sublimated. This subli mation fr e e s the consciousness of the emotional content of the conflict and permits the individual to enj oy a f u l l e r and more complete complete l i f e than than would ould othe rwise be po ss ib le . Putting Music to Work For a practical application of the above outlined points, the in dividual should select records to be played--beginning with those that st imu lat e unpleasant emoti onal res ponse. Take Take a type of music f o r which you have d i s t a s t e , whether whet her i t be h i l l b i l l y music, symphonies, symphonies , negr ne gro o s p ir it u a ls , or any other type. Se le ct enou enough gh of these these records so that you w i l l have have about twen tw enty ty minutes ac t ua l p l a y i n g ti me. me . Then Then s e l e c t one or tw two re co rd s which which you you l i k e t remendously. Pl ay the the re cor ds t hat you d i s l i k e f i r s t , be gi nni nn i ng wi t h one one which whi ch i s the q u i e t e s t , or most most suppressed suppressed,, and pl ayi ng l a s t the the on one which which is the most ost nois y, i f they can can be so c l a s s i f i e d ; i f not, then then arrange arrange the them in order from from those those lea st dis lik ed , playing th the one most di sl ik ed la st . Follow this series of records immediately by the one or two of which you are especially fond. fond. Play thes these e las t two two records records very so ft ly -- th e en tir e idea being being to work up an emotional response to the records disliked; then allow the the la st two two records to be playe played d in shar sharp p cont rast to the the f i r s t seri es. Thi Th i s w i l l produce a mild mi ld emot em ot io nal na l shock and tends te nds to subli sub li mate mat e the emo tion which was worked up prior to playing the softer music.
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In playing these records one should not endeavor to listen to them as he usually listens to music; do not try to analyze the music as to whether you dislike the melody, the rhythm or the associations con necte nected d with i t . Be in a comforta comfortable ble pos itio n, pref erab ly re cl in in g, or even in a room sufficiently darkened so that all extraneous light is cut cut out. Then l i s t e n t o each note , endeavoring t o make that note a separate an and d i s t in c t e n t it y . Do not not allow your your conscious consciousness ness to be ca r ri ed along wit h the melody melody as a whole. Concentr ate upon each note as i f your your l i f e dep depende ended d upon i t . When li st e n in g i n th is fas hio n, any type of mu music w i l l prod produc uce e a d e fi n it e emotional re ac ti on although although the the l i s t e n e r may not be conscious of why th is i s tr ue. As the the rec ord s to which which you you are e s p e c ia ll y attune attuned d are played, you played, you w i l l f i n d the r e s p i r a ti o n becom becoming ing deep er, and i t w i l l seen as though though a trem tremendo endous us weig ht has been been l i f t e d from you. you. Repe Repeat at thi s, or a si mi la r prog progra ram m, d a il y , f o r a per io d o f about about h a l f an hour, hour, and you you w i l l fi nd a prono pronoun unced ced cha change occurrin g wit hin your your pe rs on al it y. This is beca becau use the the emotion al content of certain conflicts is being lessened and is diminishing. From the standpoint of psychotherapy it does not mean that the conflict has been been el im in at ed , but i t does doesm mean t ha t the harmful harmf ul compon component ent o f the c o n f l i c t ha has be been str ippe d aw away. In a short period of time time you you w i l l fi nd that you you no no lo nge r fe el an ta go ni st ic toward toward music sic which which you you use used d in the the beginnin g, and you you w i l l als o noti ce that ma many of your d a il y p re ju dices have receded and the personality has become more mature, more tolerant, and better mannered. Many persons today do not not l i k e "swing " an and "b oo gi e- wo og ie ." The rea son fo r th is could be that i t is a new type o f mu music fo r which we have ave no appropria te responses responses and very l i t t l e understan understanding. ding. I f th is be the the cas e, th is type of mu music cannot cannot be used sed su c ce s sf u ll y . On the other hand, i f this j iv e " mu music s ti r s up up ce rt ai n pr im itiv e em emotion otions s and but "sends" yo you in the wrong rong d i r e c t io n , then you you w i l l fi nd th is outlin e w il l wo work very su ccessfull y. In conclusion, music which hich we d is li k e fr eq ue nt ly ha has the the a b i l i t y to resurrect certain painful, emotional conflicts in the unconscious; by arousing these c o n f l i c t s and immediately play ing some type type o f mu music sic which which is In harmony wit h ou our present gui ding id ea l, a sublimation w i l l be ef fe ct ed whic which h w i ll tran sfer the the emo emotio tion n tied to th the c o n fl ic t and w il l perm permit it a strengthe strengthening ning of the the guiding ide al. As this dese ns iti za tion takes place, a subtle change occurs with the personality which has a ma maturi turing ng e f f e c t and permits on one to enjoy l i f e more fu l l y .
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MJ-108-549
