Improvisational Music as a Living System: Training the Therapist’s Senses in Exploring-Understanding Group/Couple and Family Dynamics, through an analogy in music

With Nikos Kaitsas, Antonis Antoniou and Vassilis Charalambopoulos

Chairperson: Umberta Telfener

“Don’t play what’s there, play what’s not there”
Miles Davis, jazz musician

“The emotional reaction is all that matters. As long as there’s some feeling of communication, it isn’t necessary that it be understood”
John Coltrane, jazz musician

In both group, couple, family therapy and improvisational music, relationships evolve through a non-conscious, but constantly creative manner. These processes follow a number of principles that are common. The notions of time, rhythm, main theme, conversational mode, synthesis, creative pause, being in the present moment, emotional mirroring and connection, nonverbal communication, call-and-response patterns, resonance, co-dependency, co-regulation, autonomous expression, mirror neurons communication and diversion are present in a family/group context as well as in a musical trio which improvises by sharing notes, ideas and sounds.
By incorporating these principles, among others, the family and group therapist helps to create a space that welcomes and acknowledges a family state of being and communicating, while also provides provocation that might help the family/group to consider new possibilities
In this workshop a group of three therapists and musicians, will perform a short piece of improvised music in real time, demonstrating analogical ways that therapists could listen and perceive what happens in various therapeutic settings. Following the performance, participants will engage in reflective discussion regarding their actual experience of hearing the music and watching the creative process, as well as the connection among the aforementioned principles and how they are present in therapeutic practice.

Through this experiential approach, therapists will be invited to consider new ways of listening, understanding, connecting, responding, and co-creating change in their therapeutic/clinical context.

Vassilis Charalambopoulos MSc,CGP is a systemic Psychotherapist – Trainer, clinical and organisational supervisor at the Athenian Institute of Anthropos (Greece) – Member of the EFTA Board.

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