Acoustic resonance: Musical and acoustic elements of the therapeutic conversation
Working with patients such as Anna has led me to a specific discovery: there are acoustic markers which indicate whether a patient is immersed in a state of creative interpersonal relatedness, or triggered into a traumatic memory system. When a patient is immersed in an atmosphere of intersubjective mutuality, the narration features a sing-song, rhythmical and tuneful form of speech. The interactions with the therapist will be improvisatory, playful, the melodic contour that of musical question-answer sequences. When the patient is catapulted into a traumatic memory system, speech becomes monotone and disjointed. An attuned therapist will respond differently to a patient triggered into traumatic memory: the therapist will not match the traumatic monotone but tend to use more soothing vocalisations.
Similarly a therapist will not match the fast tempo of an anxious patient but will speak soothingly with a musical quality usually spanning a falling minor third, falling perfect fifth or octave. In this paper I will explain the acoustics of the voice. When we attune to each other we literally attune to one another’s overtones. Being in tune acoustically avoids dissonant overtones which are known to create distress: literal disharmony which actually creates disturbances in the sympathetic nervous system. Embedded in my paper is the research background of others working in this field; including Stern, Trevarthen, Malloch, Beebe, and Meares. All this informs the actuality of the moment-to-moment interactions of patient and therapist. Clinical application will be interspersed with video recordings of a mother-baby interaction featuring primary intersubjectivity and proto-symbolising through vocal attunement.
