Multicultural working in a women's multifaith group

Warner, Cathy; Williams, Eleanor; Mason, Helen

Abstract

A multicultural music group run by music therapists
Abstract
This paper will tell the story of a women’s multicultural monthly music encounter facilitated by music therapists. This open group continues to meet in a rural town in England. It involves a diverse group of women who are of the five largest faiths and speak seventeen different languages. The purpose of the music group is twofold: to reduce isolation by promoting social exchange within the group and to identify and provide support or support routes to anyone experiencing mental or emotional distress.
Presenters will focus on the task of containing this large group, working with the fluidity of the transitions as understood within the particular cultural context (Stige et al 2013). The role of song to express deep spiritual feelings and facilitate cultural sharing will be examined, as will managing ‘dynamics’, in the sense of both loudness and group relations, ‘home-making’ for the physical environment and the confounding role of monitoring on trust-building.
Much contemporary literature on multicultural work within music therapy has drawn on feminist thinking and has focused on the importance of the therapists’ own cultural self-knowledge (Chase, 2003; Hadley, 2013; Mahoney, 2015) and humility (Hook et al 2013). The therapists will explain the impact of the work on their therapeutic identities. This has resulted in both deep discomfort about how we construct notions of therapy, and delight in the profounder shifts in understanding spirituality as expressed within music.
The women’s own music will be woven into the presentation.
Presenters: Eleanor Williams, Cathy Warner, Helen Mason
Chase, K. (2003). Multicultural music therapy: A review of the literature. Music Therapy Perspectives, 21, 83–87. DOI: 10.1093/mtp/21.2.84
Hadley, S. (2013a). Dominant narratives: Complicity and the need for vigilance in the Creative Arts Therapies. The Arts in Psychotherapy, 4, 373-381. DOI: 10.1016/j.aip.2013.05.007
Hook, H. N., Davis, D. E., Owen, J., Worthington Jnr., E. L. and Utsey, S.O. (2013) Cultural humility: measuring openness to culturally diverse clients. Journal of counselling psychology 60(3), 353-66 DOI: 10.1037/a0032595
Mahoney, E. (2015) Multicultural music therapy: An exploration. Voices: A World Forum for Music Therapy, 15(2). DOI: 10.15845/voices.v15i2.844
Stige, Brynjulf, Ansdell, G, Elefant, C. and Pavlicevic, M. (2013) Where music helps: Community music therapy in action and reflection. Farnham: Ashgate ISBN: 9780754668503

Keywords: multifaith culture dynamics identity spirituality

Citation

Warner, C., Williams, E., & Mason, H. (2016, April). Multicultural working in a women's multifaith group. Paper presented at British Association of Music Therapy Conference 2016, Technology & Innovation Centre, University of Strathclyde, Glasgow

• Presentation Conference Type: Conference Paper (unpublished)
• Conference Name: British Association of Music Therapy Conference 2016
• Conference Location: Technology & Innovation Centre, University of Strathclyde, Glasgow
• Start Date: Apr 8, 2016
• End Date: Apr 10, 2016
• Deposit Date: Mar 5, 2023
• Public URL: https://uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/10502413
• Related Public URLs: https://www.bamt.org/conference/past-bamt-conferences/bamt-conference-2016