Abstract

Music improvisation is often used in music therapy to enhance the therapeutic working alliance between music therapists and clients. However, little is known about how music improvisation might be used to enhance the supervisory working alliance (SWA) between music therapy internship supervisors and interns, particularly within intercultural supervisory relationships. The purpose of this qualitative research interview study was to explore the perspectives of three music therapy internship supervisors on using music improvisation as a means of fostering a constructive intercultural SWA with interns. Individual qualitative interviews were conducted with three anglophone music therapy internship supervisors based in Canada who had supervised interns whose primary language was not English. The interviews were transcribed and individual narrative summaries created. These were analyzed using content analysis techniques wherein themes emerged within three predetermined categories: (a) the use of improvisation as an integrative component of the supervisory approach, (b) potential/unique benefits of using improvisation in supervision to foster a constructive intercultural SWA, and (c) potential/unique challenges in using music improvisation to foster a constructive intercultural SWA. The discussion contains reflections on the research process and findings, limitations of the study, implications for intercultural preprofessional music therapy and supervisory training, and recommendations for future research. This study provides supervisors, educators, and interns with valuable perspectives on how music improvisation can enhance intercultural SWAs within preprofessional music therapy training contexts.