Abstract
When I was in graduate school studying music therapy, music therapy with adolescents with emotional issues and popular music was exciting and interesting. There seemed to be very little of it discussed in the field’s literature, and I found this peculiar—helping teens cope and find newer, healthier ways of relating with music just made sense to me. I could identify with the needs and the work somehow. Upon completion of classes, I saw an advertisement for a music therapist position in the Jersey City Public Schools—working with elementary and middle school children with developmental, emotional, and social issues. And summers off, health benefits, and pension! I took the interview with my hair back in a slick ponytail, wearing a very serious-looking black blazer that I had rushed out to buy the night before. My nervousness and lack of professional experience must have gotten the better of me because I did not get the job. And that turned out to be a wonderful thing.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
50 Cent. (2005). Candy shop [Recorded by 50 Cent and Olivia]. On The massacre [CD]. Santa Monica, CA: Aftermath-Interscope Records.
Aigen, K. (1998). Paths of development in Nordoff-Robbins music therapy. Gilsum, NH: Barcelona Publishers.
American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry. (2011). Child sexual abuse. Retrieved January 6, 2012, from http://aacap.org/page.wwname=Child+Sexual+Abuse§ion=Facts+for+Families
American Music Therapy Association. (2011). History of music therapy. Retrieved January 6, 2012, from http://www.musictheraoy.org/about/history/
American Psychological Association. (n.d.). Sexual abuse. Retrieved January 6, 2012, from http://www.apa.org/topics/sexual-abuse/index.aspx
Amir, D. (2004). Giving trauma a voice: The role of improvisational music therapy in exposing, dealing with and healing a traumatic experience of sexual abuse. Music therapy perspectives, 22(2), 96–103.
Austin, D. (2002). The wounded healer: The voice of trauma: A wounded healer’s perspective. In J. Sutton (Ed.), Music, music therapy, and trauma: International perspectives (pp. 231–259). Philadelphia: Jessica Kingsley Publishers.
Austin, D. (2007). Lifesongs: Music therapy with adolescents in foster care. In V. Camilleri (Ed.), Healing the inner city child: Creative arts therapies with at-risk youth (pp. 92–103). Philadelphia: Jessica Kingsley Publishers.
Austin, D. (2008). The theory and practice of Vocal Psychotherapy: Songs of the self. London: Jessica Kingsley Publishers.
Bowlby, J. (1988). A secure base: Parent-child attachment and healthy human development. USA: Basic Books.
Bruscia, K. (1998a). Defining music therapy (2nd ed.). Gilsum, NH: Barcelona Publishers.
Bruscia, K. (Ed.). (1998b). The dynamics of music psychotherapy. Gilsum, NH: Barcelona Publishers.
Camilleri, V. (Ed.). (2007). Healing the inner-city child: Creative arts therapies with at-risk youth. Philadelphia: Jessica Kingsley Publishers.
Child Welfare Information Gateway. (2008). Parenting a child who has been sexually abused: a guide for foster and adoptive parents. Washington, DC: United States Department of Health and Human Services. Retrieved January 6, 2012, from http://www.childwelfare.gov/pubs/f_abused/f_abused.pdf
Kalsched, D. (1996). The inner world of trauma: Archetypal defenses of the personal spirit. New York: Routledge.
Kauffman, B., Bay, A., & Wilkins, G. (2009). When your child has been sexually abused: What you need to know. Long Island, NY: The County of Suffolk and The Long Island Committee on Sexual Abuse and Family Violence.
Lang, L., & Mcinerney, U. (2002). Bosnia-Herzegovina: A music therapy service in a post-war environment. In J. Sutton (Ed.), Music, music therapy, and trauma (pp. 153–174). Philadelphia: Jessica Kingsley Publishers.
Mathers, M., & Bass, J. (2002). Cleanin’ out my closet [Recorded by Eminem]. On The Eminem Show [CD]. Santa Monica, CA: Aftermath-Interscope Records.
Pavlicevic, M. (2002). South Africa: Fragile rhythms an uncertain listenings: Perspectives from music therapy with South African children. In J. Sutton (Ed.), Music, music therapy, and trauma: International perspectives (pp. 97–118). Philadelphia: Jessica Kingsley Publishers.
Robarts, J. (2006). Music therapy with sexually abused children. Clinical Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 11(2), 249–269.
Sacks, O. (2007). Musicophila: Tales of music and the brain. New York: Knopf.
Stern, D. (1998). Diary of a baby: What your child sees, feels, and experiences. New York: Basic Books.
Swallow, M. (2002). The brain—its music and its emotion: The neurology of trauma. In J. Sutton (Ed.), Music, music therapy, and trauma: International perspectives (pp. 41–53). Philadelphia: Jessica Kingsley Publishers.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2013 Springer Science+Business Media New York
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Chestnut, M. (2013). Hearing Myself: Songs and Improvisation with Inner-City Adolescents Dealing with Sexual Abuse History. In: Loue, S. (eds) Expressive Therapies for Sexual Issues. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-3981-3_7
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-3981-3_7
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY
Print ISBN: 978-1-4614-3980-6
Online ISBN: 978-1-4614-3981-3
eBook Packages: Humanities, Social Sciences and LawSocial Sciences (R0)