Plurimodal music therapy

Domain VIII · Creative & expressive arts therapies · Diego Schapira, Hugo · 1990 · Buenos Aires, Argentina

What it is

What it is: a psychodynamically grounded framework for music therapy, not a single method. Diego Schapira and colleagues from ADIM in Argentina and Uruguay developed it from the 1990s; it had taken shape by the end of that decade. It was first used with psychiatric clients, then extended to other…

Format

• The founders set out no fixed phases. They say the work is "not a sequence of different steps". Sessions are not pre-programmed. Each intervention is chosen from four things: (a) the therapist's analysis of the process so far; (b) the client's current theme and unconscious material; (c) the…
• Exploration and assessment. Typically about 3–5 sessions. One thesis planned 3 and extended to about 5. This stage covers: building the relationship; a ficha musicoterapéutica (intake form based on Benenzon: personal data, musical preferences and dislikes, sound-musical history, key musical…

Who practises it, and how they are trained or regulated

• Professional frame: the APM is a framework for trained music therapists. It is taught as postgraduate training (UBA; the ADIM team). In Argentina music therapy is a regulated profession under Ley 27.153 de Ejercicio Profesional de la Musicoterapia (sanctioned 10 June 2015; partly regulated by Decreto 603/2016). Only holders of a university licenciatura in music therapy, or a music therapist title from an accredited…

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?
• Is it a group, retreat or community? How do they respond if someone wants to leave or raises a concern?
• How do you and the practitioner understand what is happening, in spiritual or cultural terms? Is that a source of comfort, worry, or both?
• 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

• the client feeling exposed. Ask before exploring it.
• interpreting answers as fact rather than as hypotheses.
• intellectualising about the song in place of feeling it.
• falls and space hazards. No touch without explicit consent.
• who avoids their solo, who dominates, and who cannot return to the group.

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.