Before a Child is Born

7/27/2019 Before a Child is Born

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Running Head: SOLVING UNRESOLVED CHILDHOOD TRAUMA THROUGH SINGING 1

Solving Unresolved Childhood Trauma Through Singing

Diana Fox

Molloy College


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SOLVING UNRESOLVED CHILDHOOD TRAUMA THROUGH SINGING 2

Before a child is born, he can hear the voice of his mother from within the

womb. The bond, which is formed before and after birth, impacts a persons ability

to value, explore, and develop his or her own identity. Many times, abandonment by

ones mother during the infantile and early childhood stages severely impacts the

health, individuality, and emotional stability of a person. The journal article In

Search of Self: The Use of Vocal Holding Techniques With Adults Traumatized as

Children (Austin, 2001), travels deep into a process of music psychotherapy for

emotionally damaged adults whose lives are impeded by obstacles which occurred

during their early stages of attachment.

A review of this study will highlight and examine important features and

methods as discussed by Austin in her article. The function of music in meeting the

clinical goals will be identified along with and issues regarding transference and

countertransference. Austins implementation ofher own philosophies will be

recognized and classified according to her treatment interventions. Following the

review, a personal reaction and summary will conclude the paper and provide the

reader with an educated perspective on the use of vocal holding techniques.

Austin (2001) believes that the survival of a secure attachment between a

child and primary caretaker relies on the emotional capacity of the primary

caretaker. Children who are fostered in an unstable environment consisting of

anxiety, aggression, violence or neglect are often stifled in establishing personal

independence. As a result self-loss transpires and can present itself in many ways.

Narcissistic, borderline, schizoid and other personality disorders are the terms that

have been used to describe the wide range of symptoms and defenses that occur


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when connection to ones authentic and vital center of being is broken (Austin,

2001, p. 22).

Furthermore, children whose parents suffer from substance abuse and

personality disorders are often unable to participate in meaningful relationships

and are restrained in their own emotional vocalizations. Feelings and emotions then

get imprisoned and manifested, leaving the traumatized adult disassociated and

unable to make unions with life outside their own constrictions. Some adults choose

to silence their own voices out of concern for their own safety. They may fear

rejection and abandonment because of the disrepair felt in their own childhood

experiences.

Others do not know how to deliver their feelings and responses in a suitable

manner. An adult may feel misunderstood because his needs and feelings cannot be

openly conveyed to anther person. The feelings of being misunderstood may lead to

extreme verbal eruptions. When needs and feelings remain unmetthe voice

becomes inaudible, tight and tense, breathy and undefined, or simply untrue

(Austin, 2001, p23). The lack of ones integrity or extreme verbal deliveries leads

adults who are traumatized as children to often feel undervalued, abandoned, and

cut off from the rest of the world. The neglect experienced as a child often obstructs

any chance of getting close to others.

Austin uses music to restore and recover the loss of ones true voice

(Austin, 2001, p.23) through introspective and nurturing ways. Singing merges

several key components during a clients recovery process. The author uses singing

to stimulate the physiological responses required relaxation. Deep breathing


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reduces the speed that our heart beats and alleviates any tension experienced

within the nervous system. As a result, a state of tranquility and calmness can be

attained. Once a client begins to connect with their physiological features the

recovery process can begin to happen. As the mind and body begins to relax a

persons natural energy can travel throughout the body with minimal restrictions.

Returning the client to a natural state unlocks a passage for deep emotions to escape

and prepares the individual for the next type of vocal intervention.

Vocal holding techniques is another method Austin uses to work with adults

who are traumatized as children. This method was developed by Austin and

involves the intentional use of two chords in combination with the therapists

voice in order to create a consistent and stable musical environment that facilitates

improvised singing within the clienttherapist relationship (Austin, 2001, p.24).

Using a structured two-chord accompaniment provides a stable, non-threatening

atmosphere for the client to engage in vocal improvisations. It is through these

improvisations with a combination of verbal processing, a client can begin to access

their unconscious feelings and memories. Together with the therapist the pair can

begin to explore and uncover traumatic experiences and events.

In the case of Vicky, a high pitched, monotone, and quick speaking cellist,

Austin believed that her client was consumed by sorrow and anger. As a child her

parents were often catering to the demands of their full-time work schedules. Due to

her parents physical and emotional unavailability, Vicky quickly learned to self-

parent herself. Her father was often critical of her and held her to very high ideals.

The anxiety and pressure Vicky felt growing up eventually manifested and triggered


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Vickys psychosomatic symptoms during her adult years. Austin sensed that her

suffering was related to the shame and guilt she felt acknowledging her feelings

and the problems within her family (Austin, 2001, p.26).

In almost every session Vicky described vivid dreams. A majority of these

dreams often consisted of images of car crashes, wounded animals, and

dismembered bodies (Austin, 2001, p.26). Austin felt that her clients dreams

provided deep insight into her unconsciousness and unresolved issues of conflict

and emotionally immature self. The therapist decided to use vocal holding

techniques to investigate Vickys dreams. Instead of asking Vicky to interpret her

dreams, Austin asked if she would like to explore them.

Throughout Vickys melodic exploration of her dream, several physiological

changes occurred. Her once monotone voice traveled freely up and down a full

range of notes using monosyllabic tones like ah-h-h. There were confident

ascending lines and sorrowful descending melodies full of feelings. She decorated

chords with colorful tensions and extended rich tones. Her breathing became slow,

supported, and controlled. Both client and therapist sang in unison and harmony. At

the end of their improvisational session and after a few minutes of silence, Vicky

was able to look deeply into her dream and confided in the therapist her true

feelings of concern for herself and family.

Austin describes Free Associative Singing as when words enter the vocal

holding process. Using words throughout this process may allow the client to

connect with unconscious images, memories, and associated feelings (Austin,

2001, p. 28). The therapist can direct the searching of ones unconsciousness by


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selecting her own words to actively include in the musical stream of

consciousness (Austin, 2001, p.28). This type of advancement can be used to

address issues of transference and countertransference and utilize them in ways to

promote the success of a client. When the therapist begins to make suggestions or

enters a clients unconsciousness by questioning or examining a certain feeling the

client may begin to perceive the therapist as maternal figure or other stable figure

(Austin, 2001).

The use of these techniques for adults traumatized as children will always

lead to issues in situations of transference and countertransference. Fortunately,

these issues can be used in a way to benefit the client. In the relationship between

client and therapist, the facilitator often sees fractionalized, atypical behaviors. The

musical relationship created between the client and therapist provides an

opportunity for the therapist to become more of a parental figure. According to

Austin:

Singing together on the same notes can promote the emergence of a

symbiosis-like transference and countertransference. This is important for

clients who have never had a satisfactory experience of merging with an

emotionally present, calm, consistent mother. Through a replication of early

mother-child relatedness, these clients can eventually internalize a stable

sense of self and individuation (2001, p.25).

Musical interventions can reflect different types of exchanges and contacts

between a child and the motherly figure. Vocal holding typically lends itself to

fostering an exchange of positive transference satisfying the need of a client


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searching for a stable and idyllic maternal model. In the case of Beth, the therapist

found that eventually the client could express her anger toward me without

experiencing abandonment or retaliation (Austin, 2001, p.25). These types of

interventions are non-threatening ways to address issues of transference and

countertransference for both client and therapist.

Austin refers to Jungs philosophy ofpsyche when discussing her

interventions and methodologies. In the beginning of her article the author

identifies Jungs view of the complex components of the psyche. Jung believed that

all individuals are created with equal parts of psyche and they are rooted in our

central nervous system. When parts of our psyche are not stimulated or nurtured,

Jung believed that our psyche will instinctually attack and suppress the inactive

portions of our mind. An instinct does not respond to a stimulus willy-nilly. It is

rather as if there were a pre-existing image which, in order for there to be a

response, must find its receptor in the environment (Lawson, 2008, pg. 30.).

Conscious inactiveness will generate parts of our psyche to shut down and

withdraw from functioning awareness. When the part of our psyche that forms our

identities and character is hindered, eventually an individual will experience self-

loss. When all parts of our conscious mind is actively operating we can see more

clearly the outlines of the concept of the collective unconsciousness (Lawson, 2008,

p.32).

The content of this study heavily focused on how severely a childs

environment impacts their perception of self. It also examined the profound and

almost enigmatic aspects of the unconscious mind and how music therapy is one


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very efficient way of working with prisoners of childhood trauma. This highlights of

this article demonstrated how music can connect different parts of our psyche. As a

reader, I personally was impressed how structured singing of simple two-chord

songs were used to peel back the layers of seclusion and abandonment experienced

by victims of childhood trauma. I value the deep relationship shared between the

client and therapist in this model of music psychotherapy. In this setting, the role of

the therapist seemed to be in a very vulnerable and exposed position. The

techniques facilitated by the therapist required much courage and poise because

traveling into the unconscious to resurrect damaging childhood memories can be

unpredictable. This article helped me understand how a therapist must take chances

and be prepared for assorted reactions from traumatized clients.


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References

Austin, D, (2001). In Search of the Self: The Use of Vocal Holding Techniques with

Adults Traumatized as Children. Music Therapy Perspectives, 19(1), 22-31.

Lawson, T.T. (2008). Carl Jung, Darwin of the Mind. [DX Reader version}. Retrieved

from http://site.ebrary.com/lib/molloy/docDetail.action?docID=10428121

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