Deepening Empathy in Men Using a Musical Chronology and the Emerging Life Song

Abstract

The authors illustrate the use of music as a tool for counseling men. They describe a creative intervention—a Musical Chronology and the Emerging Life Song—and illustrate it through a case vignette. The intervention method blends music with narrative therapy, cognitive therapy, and relational cultural theory. This intervention may help men who are challenged in their empathic capacity revisit developmental milestones, gain compassion for themselves and others, and connect with their emotions and beliefs via music.

Relational‐Cultural Theory: Fostering the Growth of a Paradigm Through Empirical Research

“…Several authors presented models for counseling based on the aforementioned principles of RCT (Comstock et al, ; Duffey & Haberstroh, ; Jordan & Dooley, ; Tantillo & Sanftner, ). Each of these approaches provides clients with education, modeling, and practice implementing activities associated with the core tenets of RCT with the goal of promoting engagement in growth‐fostering relationships that result in empowerment and a sense of mattering.…”

“…A third model delineates an eight‐session manualized treatment approach that identifies session goals, describes experiential activities, and provides processing questions/topics for clients (Jordan & Dooley, ). Finally, a fourth model, Developmental Relational Counseling (DRC; Duffey & Haberstroh, ), integrates RCT with cognitive and narrative therapies and illustrates the dynamics between personal awareness, connection, compassion, and feedback. Practitioners of DRC further incorporate characteristic styles of relating and how they shape the contours of connection and disconnection.…”