Playing With Chaos: Broadening Possibilities for How Music Therapist’s Consider Chaos in Group Work With Young People

Abstract

Many music therapists have alluded to challenges in their work with groups of young people. However, chaos, incorporating experiences of disintegration and destruction, is a construct often overlooked in music therapy literature. Some music therapy authors have related experiences of chaos to the struggles faced by young people referred for therapy. These experiences require management, modification, or resolution. The authors of this article synthesized broader understandings and approaches towards chaos described in literature from fields including music therapy group work, drama therapy, the arts, psychoanalysis, organizational studies, and philosophy. Chaos is positioned as an inherent and necessary aspect of music therapy groups with young people, situated within a mutually potentiating relationship with more ordered features of a group process. From this paradoxical perspective, therapeutic transformation is enabled through creativity that holds the tension between order and the destructiveness of chaos. When chaos is welcomed in music therapy groups and framed within appropriate boundaries, the authors argue that experiences of chaos can be harnessed to support engagement with the paradoxes of creativity and destructiveness. The provision of a space to play with chaos supports young people who are required to flourish within adverse, chaotic life circumstances. The significance of this position for a group of young people who have committed offences in the South African context is highlighted.

Music, adversity and flourishing: Exploring experiences of a community music therapy group for Australian youth

“…This group was no exception. The usual paradox of chaos and order was at play (Oosthuizen and McFerran, 2020) with highly creative moments juxtaposed upon moments of frustration, fear and anxiety. The group leaders worked hard, both within the group and throughout the weeks in between to facilitate connections, promote confidence, provide difficult feedback, move instruments, set up equipment, coordinate programmes and respond to messages and ensure that the group was all the young people needed it to be.…”

“…Since many Music Therapists describe facilitating adolescent groups as challenging, further insights into different approaches could also benefit the profession, rather than focusing only on outcomes. Oosthuizen & McFerran, 2020 research questions about chaos in music therapy groups with young offenders provides one illustration of how this need remains relevant, and her insights about the importance of embracing paradox in facilitating groups offers practical guidance for practitioners. Similarly, Bolger et al's (2018) focus on how to 'do' collaboration in adolescent groups has also been an important contribution, particularly in emphasising the value of the hang-out period with young people.…”

Therapy – the Problematic Word in Music Therapy with Adolescents in the Child Welfare Services

“…In a paper reviewing the literature on music therapy with adolescents, McFerran (2020) recommends that both (music therapy) practitioners and researchers avoid assuming that they know what adolescents experience, and that a common understanding should continuously be sought after. Other studies highlight the potential differences between how adolescents and music therapists understand certain aspects of the practice--aspects like chaos (Oosthuizen, 2018;Oosthuizen & McFerran, 2021), collaborative processes (Bolger, 2013;Bolger, et al, 2018), and acts of aggression (dos Santos, 2018Santos, , 2020. By exploring the meaning behind the adolescents' actions and behaviours, the researchers in these studies show how new understandings of the music therapy practices might emerge.…”