Field of Play model

Domain VIII · Creative & expressive arts therapies · Carolyn Bereznak Kenny · 1987 · United States

What it is

The Field of Play is not a therapy method or protocol. Kenny called it a "general theory or perhaps a pre-theory or philosophy" of music therapy, not tied to any technique, population or diagnosis. She wrote that it "does not prescribe particular methods of practice" such as improvisation or…

Format

• No phases, no fixed session count. Kenny said a field is "not a stage or a level". It is a space with particular conditions that can arise at any point once the client feels secure (Kenny 2016b, p. 7, via Baines 2018). The three primary fields need not come in sequence and can be present at once…
• Movement between fields. Kenny gives no criteria. She describes all fields as opening and closing "just like breath" (Kenny 2014), and says the field of play emerges when the client feels secure in the musical space. A practical reading for a session:

Who practises it, and how they are trained or regulated

• Return to ritual or musical space when play produces anxiety, disorganisation or dysregulation.
• Professional frame. Kenny wrote the Field of Play for qualified music therapists. It has no separate credential, training institute or certification. In the UK, "music therapist" is a protected title: you must hold an HCPC-approved master's degree and be registered with the Health and Care Professions Council. BAMT is the professional association. In the US the usual route is an AMTA-approved degree followed by the…

Questions to explore with your client

• What drew you to it, and what are you hoping it will change?
• Is there physical contact? Was it explained beforehand, and do you feel free to say no or stop at any point?
• Does it involve intense or unusual breathing? Have you been told about the medical conditions for which that is not advised?
• Does it involve fasting, a special diet or 'detox'? Have you discussed this with your doctor?
• Is it a group, retreat or community? How do they respond if someone wants to leave or raises a concern?
• Who runs it, and what training or registration do they hold?
• What actually happens in a session or meeting, and how often?
• What does it cost, and is there pressure to commit to more?
• How do you feel afterwards, in the hours and days that follow?
• Does it fit with, or clash with, the work we do here?

What practitioners of it watch for

• Your own grief, and unplanned endings. Use supervision.
• Mandala drawing here is a personal reflective form, not a spiritual or diagnostic claim.
• Positions that block exits or feel threatening to trauma-affected clients. Keep the client's route to the door clear.
• Defaulting to your own comfort level of structure. It is working if the client's regulation and initiative grow together.
• Conflicts between "no imposed goals" and service-mandated goals. Write goals collaboratively in the client's terms (Section 5).

When to involve someone else

• New or worsening physical symptoms, or advice to stop or change prescribed medication: involve the client's doctor or prescriber.
• Signs of coercion, isolation from family and friends, escalating costs or secrecy: discuss openly and consider safeguarding.
• A crisis or thoughts of suicide: follow your crisis protocol. In the US, call or text 988; in the UK and Ireland, Samaritans on 116 123.

Drawn automatically from the guide's own sections. Stay curious: neither endorse nor dismiss what the client values, and check anything that matters against the full guide and its sources. Not medical advice.