On improvisation as dreaming and the therapist’s authentic use of self in music therapy

This article discusses the Music Therapist’s authentic use of self in improvisation-based music therapy to involve the therapist’s ability to ‘dream in music’. The topic is explored with reference to the work of psychoanalyst Thomas Ogden and illustrated with clinical examples from work with an adolescent with autism. The author describes the music-based dreaming through which it was possible to establish a musical connection with the client for the first time that enabled the client’s music and process to evolve as it had not previously. The thinking presented has links with Winnicott’s ideas about play, creativity and psychotherapy; with Stern’s ideas about implicit relational knowing, intersubjectivity and affect attunement; and with theorising about transference and counter-transference in music therapy. The article develops a theory of dreaming in music that highlights the importance of the therapist’s ability to work with the creativity of the unconscious, trusting the music that emerges from within.