Understanding how humour enables contact in music therapy relationships with persons living with dementia: A phenomenological arts-based reflexive study. (July 2021)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Haire, Nicky; MacDonald, Raymond
• Is Part Of: Arts in psychotherapy. Volume 74(2021)
• Publication Date: 2021-07
• Subjects: "Aesthetic moments" -- Humour -- Music therapy -- Dementia -- Improvisation -- Arts-based reflexivity; Art therapy -- Periodicals; Dance therapy -- Periodicals; Music therapy -- Periodicals; Poetry -- Therapeutic use -- Periodicals; 616.891656
• DOI: 10.1016/j.aip.2021.101784
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0197-4556

Abstract

Highlights: Humour in music therapy with persons living with dementia can catalyse a form of relational time which enables intersubjective contact. Familiar patterns of interactive behaviours or multi-modal humorous in-jokes facilitated contact through social connections in a music therapy group with persons living with dementia. Musical laughter enabled possibilities for intimate contact on a one-to-one basis. A sense of temporal location or presencing through humour served to develop relational contact internally - within self - and with other. Methodologically this study offers innovative and creative ways of understanding and disseminating experiences of humour in music therapy. Abstract: This article details part of a phenomenological arts-based reflexive study investigating humour in music therapy with persons living with dementia. Rooted in psychosocial and relational-centred methodology, the study arose from the first author's experience as a music therapist. As part of a larger study, three interview-encounters with persons living with dementia and their music therapists (n=8) provided opportunities for shared reflection on humour in their work. Arts-based reflexivity within a phenomenological frame was used to address the question of how humour enables contact in music therapy with persons living with dementia. Furthermore, Christopher Bollas' (1987) concept of "aesthetic moments" is used to think into the relational and existential importance of humour in this context and explore more deeply what contact may mean. Links between methodology and topic are explored and the correspondence between humour and intersubjective experiences in music therapy is highlighted in relationships with persons living with dementia.