This paper will discuss approaches to ethical issues encountered in the development of the proposal for a PhD research project, to be undertaken by the first author, entitled “Psychodynamic music therapy and the work of classroom practitioners working with children with complex needs in Belarus: A potential space”. This research will be based at Novi Dom, a special school in Minsk, Belarus, and follows two skills-sharing projects undertaken there during 2009 (Margetts, Wallace and Young 2010), which were requested initially to support person-centred teaching initiatives by one of the founding charities of Novi Dom. The positive outcomes of these first two projects led to a request for further music-therapy-based input. The impetus for the first author's PhD research project has therefore evolved in response to this locally identified need (Trimble and Fisher 2006: 6). Writing and research around multicultural competency in music therapy have increased in recent years with commentators offering further consideration of the knowledge, skills and qualities needed by therapists, supervisors and trainers to work successfully with the complexities of the multicultural environment (Gilboa, Yehuda and Amir 2009; Wheeler and Baker 2010). The unique, rich sociocultural context of post-communist and modern Belarus offers an opportunity to explore fascinating areas of divergence and meeting of approaches to working with children with complex needs. A brief overview of geographical, historical, political and social factors which have contributed to this very specific context will be drawn from literature, as well as from both the experience of the authors, and that of fellow music therapists who have undertaken music-therapy-based skills-sharing projects in other post-communist countries (Quin 2004, 2007; Salcin-Watts 2007). Fundamental ethical challenges of psychodynamic music-therapy-based research within special education in Belarus will be explored from the perspective of outsider research as defined by David Bridges (2001, 2009). This discussion will be illustrated with clinical material from the projects at Novi Dom in 2009.

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This article describes aspects of long-term work with a learning disabled adult over the period of time during which he made use of a story. This is given in detail from a point at over 5 years into the therapy when an initial question about the story was presented to the therapist. The article shows the ways in which the story was incorporated into the overall musical work. These sessions are placed into the context of the therapy as a whole, the ways in which story and music were combined, the central place that this work took and how this resonated with the client's life. The article concludes with thoughts about work with learning disabled clients and how the use of story can bring about new spaces in the clinic room. The concept of institutionalisation, along with broader questions about social change and the potential impact upon learning disabled clients will also be explored, with questions raised for the music therapy profession to consider further. The article is illustrated with colour plates from the book used during the therapy.