Exploring agency in music therapy with a young person in a medium secure setting: a case study

Abstract

This case study explores agency within music therapy with a young person in a medium secure forensic adolescent unit (MSFAU). A review of existing literature highlights the significance of agency as a resource in adolescence, as well as the suitability of music therapy for working with young people in psychiatric settings. While current literature presents connections between agency and the ways in which young people use music, less research specifically investigating agency in music therapy with young people exists. This qualitative study seeks to identify and explore a young person’s agentic activity in five music therapy sessions. In addition, this study questions the idea of agency as something that the therapist affords to the client. A hermeneutic phenomenological approach was adopted, and findings were presented as a single case study. Through thematic analysis of supervision notes, three main themes were generated, and ten subthemes of client agency were identified, supported by existing themes in the literature. The three main themes explored were the protagonist in the process, the music and the therapeutic relationship. The study also highlighted the ways in which the client shaped music therapy, particularly through music, challenging the idea of the therapist affording agency to the client. This study contributes to the literature on agency in music therapy, and illustrates a young person’s agentic activity within music therapy in a secure setting. It also emphasises the unique, agentic potential of the music within music therapy, and highlights the need for further research into agency within music therapy in a broader range of adolescent settings.