When the music therapist experiences a personal crisis

Abstract

The purpose of this phenomenological investigation is to obtain a comprehensive understanding of the experiences of five board-certified music therapists who underwent a personal crisis during a time when they were practicing music therapy. Data was collected through open-ended semi-structured interviews that took place over the telephone. Using Colaizzi's (1978) descriptive phenomenological method to analyze the interviews, three themes emerged: Onset of Personal Crisis, Coping, and Clinical Impact. Implications for this study include an increased awareness of the universality of the experience to prepare music therapists to better use their coping strategies.