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Giving Voice to an Embodied Self: A heuristic inquiry into experiences of healing through vocal creativity Sarah Quinley Doctor of Psychotherapy and Counselling UNIVERSITY OF EDINBURGH 2019 Thesis Declaration I confirm that this thesis, presented to the University of Edinburgh for the degree of Doctor of Psychotherapy and Counselling, has i) been composed entirely by myself ii) been solely the result of my own work iii) not been submitted for any other degree or professional qualification This Declaration is signed the 3rd of May upon final submission. X Sarah Quinley ii Abstract How is the voice healing? Over the past few decades, research has begun to uncover the therapeutic benefits of vocal practices. Research results have evidenced that different forms of vocal expression positively influence the quality of life of an adult emotionally, mentally, physically, psychologically, and spiritually. However, different theoretical approaches, different methods, and different samples have left a heterogeneous picture of the reported benefits. It remains unclear how individuals experience healing through vocal practices, nor do we know much about the qualities that characterise each practice. This research aims to explore how individuals experience healing and transformation through different vocal practices, including therapeutic voicework, creative singing, and performance singing. In this study, these vocal practices are grouped under the term ‘vocal creativity’. The research problem was formulated with the following question: What is the nature and meaning of experiences of vocal creativity, and what can these experiences tell us about the human voice’s potential for healing? To reveal the elements of each vocal practice, and the mechanisms behind individuals’ experiences of healing through the voice, this study adopts a heuristic methodology to yield in- depth findings. More specifically, a heuristic comparison study was undertaken to draw out features that characterise each practice and the therapeutic benefits different forms of vocal creativity have in common. As an additional way to gain knowledge and present key findings, I created songs and lyrical poems to access an embodied understanding of individuals’ experiences. To generate data, I engaged my experience of vocal creativity and conducted conversational interviews. Some of my autobiographical contributions were analysed integrating Process-Experiential Theory to produce a richer understanding of how I have healed and transformed through vocal creativity. The ten respondents of the conversational interviews were iii men and women, aged between 25-67 years old, from the United States, England, and Spain. The present study provides important insights into the significance of the voice for healing that may be useful for practitioners both within, and outwith, the arts therapies. Integration of vocal creativity and Process-Experiential Theory elaborates on Emotion-Focused Therapy and expands the theoretical base for vocal practices, suggesting that using the voice as an embodied and symbolic tool for emotion may assist in the facilitation of emotional processing, and in working with internal multiplicity. The study’s findings illuminate underlying qualities, processes, and mechanisms in experiences of vocal practices, and elucidate contexts and conditions that enabled or inhibited ways of healing through the voice, all of which are seldom addressed in current scholarship. iv Acknowledgments I have many people to thank for helping me complete this project. I am so grateful to the individuals who helped fund my education and made it possible for me to pursue this amazing opportunity. A wholehearted thank you to my Mom, Dad, Jim, Nancy, Grandma Denny, Lin, Mary Kay, and many others for supporting my educational journey. Mom, thanks for being there for all my ups and downs. Having you to stick by me has been such a blessing and I am forever grateful for that. Nan, I could not have done this without you. You’ve been my rock and my best friend through this journey. Thank you so much for being there through everything. Huge thanks to my partner, Alberto, for being a massive support throughout this challenging process and for believing in me every step of the way. A special thank you to my friends who made me laugh and encouraged me. To my therapist, Kate, who I can’t thank enough for helping me come back to my voice, value it, and trust it. Thanks to Lady Gaga who was a huge inspiration and support throughout this project. Her message and example helped me be strong, be proud of my voice, and embrace the uniqueness of my personal evolution. Thank you to my supervisors, Alette and Seamus, to whom I owe much of the success of this project. Thanks to my co-researchers who took the time to speak with me and gave so much life to this research. I am indebted to you all for everything you have done for me to complete this doctoral journey. v Dedication This project is dedicated to my great grandma, Donna Jean (DJ), whose presence in my life will always be an inspiration and loving memory. I also dedicate this work to any person who longs for vocal freedom and who loves to sing. vi Table of Contents Thesis Declaration…………………………………………………………………...ii Abstract........................................................................................................................iii Acknowledgments.......................................................................................................v Dedication…………………………………………………………………………...vi Table of Contents........................................................................................................vii List of Tables & Figures……………………………….……………………………. xii Supplemental Files…………………………………………………………………..xiii Key Concepts & Terms…………………………………………………………….. xiv Chapter 1: A Call for Response ………………………………………………....…..1 1.2: Introducing my Personal Voice…………………………………..……..3 1.3: A Collective Composition………..………………………………..……5 1.4: The ‘Call’ of the Research………………………………………..……..7 1.5: Setting the Stage…………………………………………………………8 Chapter 2: A Search for Silence …………………………………………………..…10 Part 1: Exploring Clinical Contexts……………………………………………..……10 2.2: The Clinical Field of Music Therapy…………………………………….10 2.3: Voicework in Psychotherapy……………………………………………..15 Pioneers of Voicework ……………………………………….………16 2.4: Voicework in Other Arts Therapies……………..………………………..23 Dance and Movement Therapy………………………………………..23 Dramatherapy……………………………………………………….....26 Intermodal Expressive Arts Therapy……………………………..……30 vii Part 2: A Search Through Non-Clinical Contexts………………………………….….31 2.5: Singing for Health and Wellbeing Studies………………………………..31 Large Studies and Systematic Reviews………………………………..32 Choral Singing……………………………………………………...….32 Singing and Mental Health Studies………………………………..…...33 Studies Focused on Healing through Singing……………………….…34 Physiological Studies…………………………………………………..36 Theoretical Perspectives of the Experience of Singing for Health and Wellbeing…………………………………………………………...….36 2.6: Filling the Silent Gaps……………………………………………..…...….37 Chapter 3: Philosophical Tunings……………………………………………………....39 3.2: Locating the Study in Psychotherapy…………………………………..….39 3.3: Ontology and Epistemology………………………………………..……..40 3.4: Embodied Phenomenology ………………………………….………...…..42 Chapter 4: Methodology and Design……………………………………………..…….47 4.2: Moustakas’ Heuristic Method………………………………………..…….47 4.3: Designing a Heuristic Comparison………………………………………....51 4.4: Individual Depictions: The Verses of the Soloists and the Duet…………...53 The Verses of the Soloists………………………………………………..53 The Duet………………………………………………………………….54 4.5: Composite Depictions: The Choruses……………………………………....57 4.6: Creative Synthesis: The Song………………………………………………57 viii 4.7: Lyrical Poems and Songs as Inquiry………………………………….……58 4.8: Navigating my Heuristic Journey…………………………………………..59 4.9: Methods………………………………………………………………….…61 Self-Dialogue……………………………………………………...…….61 Workshops………………………………………………………………61 Co-Researchers………………………………………………………….62 Interviews………………………………………………………….……63 4.10: Trustworthiness……………………………………………………..…….66 4.11: Ethical Considerations………………………………………….…………68 Chapter 5: The Collective Composition…………………………………………………73 5.2: Self Dialogue: Embarking on a Vocal Journey into an Embodied Self..…...75 5.3: Therapeutic Voicework……………………………………………………..77 Daniel: Connecting Beyond Words……………………………………..77 Susan: Beyond Reclaiming the Joyful Self………………..……………80 Jennifer: Trusting the Voice………………………………...…………..83 The Chorus of the Therapeutic Voiceworkers…………………………..86 5.4: The Creative Singers………………………………………………………..88 Morgan: Singing from the Nucleus………………………………..…….88