What I'm Reading: Read With Me - Psychophysiological Foundations of Emotions

Sooooo...

I didn't do any reading ahead of time this week, so I am going to read and write at the same time right now. I am starting Part Two, Chapter Four - Psychophysiological Foundations of Emotions in Emotional Processes in Music Therapy by John Pellitteri, published by Barcelona Publishers in 2009. The chapter starts on page 65 and ends on page 96, but I doubt that I will read that much this morning. Let's get started...

Thoughts as I am reading Chapter 4:

  • "emotions are complex multidimensional processes that depend on the interplay between" psychological and physiological components (p. 65). There are connections between emotions and musical experiences. Music therapists can use a deeper understanding of how emotions interact with music to assist in understanding the role that emotion plays in clinical responses and interactions within session work. 
  • Lewis, 2000 - topography of emotional processes - 1-emotional elicitors, 2-states, 3-expressions, and 4-experiences (p. 65). - multidirectional model that allows for a common view of emotions
  • four psychophysiological components of emotions - physiological, cognitive, behavioral, and social
  • These components operate at every step of the topology and must be considered during all interactions - cannot be separated into only one area of focus - holistic approach, NOT restricted by philosophical or technical restrictions
  • A Brief Review of the Brain - p. 66 - basic life functions, cognitive functions, psychosocial functions, higher levels of human experiences
  • p. 68 - " "Human [interpersonal] connections shape the neural connections from which the mind emerges' (Siegel, 1999, p.2)."
  • p. 68 - "It is the experience within this interpersonal space between two individuals, (two brains, two minds) that influences the processes of activation and the patterning of arousal and information flow (Siegel, 1999)."
  • Neuroanatomy - p. 69 - basic review of brain structures - moves into reviews of the limbic system
  • Emotional Elicitors - p. 73 - "closely intertwined with the emotional states that they evoke." 

I think I will stop there as my brain is already starting to wander away.

I continue to find this book very interesting. I am getting some glimpses into how I am working with my clients who tend to have very strong emotional responses to many different situations. I am combining the ideas that I have gleaned from this book so far into some of the ideas that I have collected from my work within the perspectives of behaviorism, sensory integration, and humanism. I am also viewing my clients' responses and reactions to music therapy interventions from the beginning perspective of my most recent exposure to a music therapy treatment theory - that of DIR-Floortime.

I have always been a music therapist who did not identify as from one theoretical perspective over another other than those of my educational focus. I am not a person who feels comfortable within psychoanalytical theories, but that is more because of my own experiences with those theories than it is due to any sort of criticism or disdain. I feel that all music therapists have to find their own ways into practice, and I am grateful that we can all find clients that resonate with our ways of doing things. I cannot imagine some of my clients responding to talk therapy in ways that many folks would expect during such therapeutic interactions, so I am glad that I have textbooks like this that offer a more holistic view of how we interact with clients.

More on this chapter next week...I'm off to do some crafting now. 

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