Abstract

The purpose of this inquiry was to explore the music therapist’s personal experience of music improvisations when these were performed with a spiritual intention. The main goal was to gain insight into her personal connections to music and spirituality, and better understand their implications in her role as a music therapist. The research process included 14 improvisation sessions of one hour each, which took place over a period of two weeks. The data collection procedure was performed according to Moustakas’ heuristic methodology, and was based on the music therapist’s improvisation recordings and reflexive journals. Three main themes were revealed: the significance of spiritual holding in the process of musical improvisation, authentic musical expression as a path to self-discovery, and the growth towards a positive and integrated sense of self as a result of combining musical expression and spirituality. The inquiry was summarized with a creative synthesis which took the form of a narrative description of the music therapist’s research experience. In conclusion, personal and professional implications of the results were discussed. Limitations of the study and areas for future research were also identified.