A ‘foreign’ journey of negotiating music therapy on home ground

Abstract

This study explored the process of negotiating music therapy in a community based setting known as The Potter’s House. The Potter’s House was established fourteen years ago as the first non-racial shelter for battered and destitute women and their children in the city of Pretoria. Furthermore, the study considers Community Music Therapy as a possible frame for music therapy practice in South Africa. The study was conducted according to a qualitative research paradigm. Three data collection sources were used to gather information about the way in which music therapy was negotiated at The Potter’s House. Data collection was in the form of interviews (conducted with the manager of The Potter’s House and the music therapy participants) as well as clinical session notes. The aim of the interviews was to explore members’ experiences and views of the music therapy process. The clinical session notes include significant information that relates to my own reflections and experiences of the music therapy process. This study seems to highlight certain factors that appear prominent in the process of negotiating music therapy in this specific shelter for battered women and their children. These factors and how they were negotiated seem to emphasize the value of a Community Music Therapy framework in the shelter context. The study further suggests that Community Music Therapy could be utilized more broadly in the South African context.