Music Therapists’ Experiences of Therapeutic Relationships with Clients with Marginalized Gender Identities and Sexual Orientations

This phenomenological inquiry investigated the ways in which music therapists perceive and discuss their music therapy relationships (MTRs) with people with marginalized gender identities and sexual orientations. Five participants completed semi-structured interviews that were transcribed and analyzed with reflexive emphasis on member checking and data triangulation. First-level analysis utilized values coding and second-level analysis refined values themes to distill individual participant essences (Saldaña, 2016). The coding manual for qualitative researchers. SAGE). Subsequent horizontalization across participants was then used to discern collective participant essences (Saldaña, 2016). The coding manual for qualitative researchers. SAGE). Critical feminist, queer, disability, anti-oppressive, and humanist theory lenses shaped the foundation and perception of the project with particular attention to intersectionality, intersubjectivity, and power dynamics in relationships. Findings included commentary on MT/client identities and balance in relationships; contextual influences on MT processes; necessity of cultural humility (CH) and cultural sustainability (CS) and respect for identity complexity; and the role of implicit/explicit communication in MTRs. Crucially, participants and the researcher endorse a non-clinical view of people with marginalized gender identities and sexual orientations, and the researcher urges introspection regarding identity, supervision, and the space that MTs and clients occupy within the MTR construct. Discussion, recommendations for future research and applications to MT theory, research, and practice are provided.