Parapraxes in song recall: A neglected variable

Abstract

In addition to expressing themselves with verbal and nonverbal communications, and by the countertransference reactions perceived by analysts, patients also reveal their inner world of images and feelings specifically with music evocations. This paper presents an initial attempt to identify and classify some of the parapraxes produced in the evocation of lyrics and music by polyglot members of treatment dyads in two empirical studies and in private practice. There may be many others, particularly related to the music per se. This paper has focused mainly on the lyrics, the equivalent of the manifest content of dreams, which nonmusician therapists can learn to handle well. Instead, in the case of the musical latent content, some knowledge of music is necessary. Supervisors' songs were considered beyond the scope of this paper and will be addressed separately. Parapraxes in song recall signal unconscious transference-countertransference states in process at the moment of evocation.