Meaning, recovery, and psychotherapy in light of the art of jazz.

Abstract

Objective: Psychotherapy as a practice in the field of psychiatric rehabilitation is increasingly seen as a means to promote recovery from serious mental illness (SMI). While mostly informed by mental health theory and research, art might offer profound and enduring insights to inform psychotherapy with people with SMI. In this article, we argue that jazz, a form of art which entails both structure and improvising, may enrich and broaden clinicians' abilities to facilitate meaning-making with clients to promote recovery. Method: Through the literature review and theoretical synthesis, we explore how jazz may be a space where specific processes can be observed and accordingly guide psychotherapy focused on subjective forms of recovery. Results: We argue that jazz offers a space to see how timing, risk-taking, the ability to be simultaneously inside and outside an activity, and support for the process of tension and release can inform and inspire the process of improvisation within psychotherapy. Conclusion and Implications for Practice: Jazz offers a creative framework which can help clinicians observe and facilitate recovery processes in psychotherapy. The perspective of jazz in the therapeutic arena of psychiatric rehabilitation emphasizes the potential of the arts and humanities to continue to enrich our understanding and guide our teaching and training. Impact and ImplicationsThe present article offers a unique framework for exploring how jazz music enables clinicians to observe and adjust recovery-oriented processes within psychotherapy for people with serious mental illness. Specifically, we suggest that the improvisational nature of jazz illuminates how certain elements in psychotherapy such as timing, risk-taking, the ability to be simultaneously inside and outside an activity and the process of tension and release enrich the understanding, conceptualization and process of people with serious mental illness making their own meaning of experience and directing their own recovery.

How Does Individual Psychotherapy Promote Recovery for Persons with Psychosis? A Systematic Review of Qualitative Studies to Understand the Patient’s Experience

“…For example, the use of play has been discussed as a means to allow the patient to engage in “creative mutual exploration” [ 81 ] and a means to communicate with the self and others [ 82 ]. Clinicians can inform their practice with forms of art, for example, considering jazz as a psychotherapy framework which utilizes improvisation with timing, risk-taking, and having a flexible role/ego [ 83 ]. Music therapy thus may be unique in its opportunity to explore aspects of subjective recovery that are often less of a focus in other forms of talk therapy.…”

Promoting Meaning and Recovery for Psychosis: Comparison of Metacognitively-Oriented Psychotherapists and Clinicians in Psychiatric Rehabilitation

“…MERIT themes appear in line with other work suggesting that improvisation may play a central role in psychoanalysis and integrative psychotherapy to facilitate a natural dialogical exchange and open previously unsafe areas towards new discoveries. 39,40 Educational theory, has similarly highlighted the value of embracing unpredictability to create a supportive environment to bolster the possibility of a transformative experience. 41 Neuropsychiatric Disease and Treatment 2023:19 https://doi.org/10.2147/NDT.S386004…”

Influence of music on the hearing and mental health of adolescents and countermeasures

“…Pop music is the most common type of music since the mid-20th century, characterized by simple melodies, easily accepted lyrics, and strong rhythms ( Ren, 2021 ). Jazz originated in the early 20th century in the United States and is known for its unique rhythm (such as swing rhythm) and extensive improvisation ( Roe and Lysaker, 2023 ). Rock music originated in the United States in the 1950s, and it has had a widespread impact worldwide due to its strong rhythm and gripping guitar solos ( Bogt et al, 2021 ).…”