Psychoauditive Method

Ahonen-Eerikäinen, H. (1996). PAM – Psykoauditiivinen musiikkiterapiamenetelma. Musiikkiterapia, 1, 33-45.

Ahonen-Eerikainen, H. (2007) Group Analytic Music Therapy. Barcelona Publishers, Gilsum.

Psychoauditive Method

“The aftermath of violence is not

‘all in the head.’

What blows the mind or breaks the heart

the body knows;

it becomes a museum,

filled with artefacts from childhood.

Trauma is stored in the tissue of the body

until the day

it is expressed and resolved.”

Linda T. Sanford

GAMT may be held in a room with the addition of psychoacoustic chairs. During therapeutic music listening, clients have the option to sit on their own psychoacoustic chairs. These chairs use low frequencies within the range of 27–114 Hz for therapeutic purposes while listening to music. I call the method Psychoauditive (PAM). The gentle and relaxing massage during imaginal music listening sharpens the body sensations. As human beings, we store our memories in our bodies. We are like “walking computers.” Everything we have experienced has been stored somewhere in our body (Levine, 1997, p. 18). It may have been lost for a while, but it has never been deleted—it is still there somewhere. Even trauma is stored in body memory.

Due to resistance and all of the defense systems that may be protecting the emotions, it may be safer to discuss body sensations first. I usually ask clients:

• Where in your body do you feel the sound/ music/vibrations/massage?

• How does it feel?

• What color is the feeling/sensation/image?

• What would it say if it could speak?

• How would it sound? (For example: How would the tension in your neck sound?)

Expressing body sensations can lead to an expression of feelings. The next phase is improvising about body sensations, expressing and communicating about them: “This is how my back pain would sound,” “This is how my neck tension would sound,” etc.

The Psychoauditive Method works well with people who have problems expressing their feelings, e.g., clients with alexitymia or psychosomatic symptoms. It is sometimes easier to discuss body sensations first, then feelings, emotions, and issues surrounding them.