“Hallo” from a desolate road: Archetypal understanding of a Korean young man’s musical journey

ABSTRACT

Introduction: Phantasies released in analytical music therapy (AMT) manifest significant internal and external experiences in one’s life. This article delineates how phantasies that portend psychological indications for one’s growth come forth in the clinical context and provide a heuristic framework to understand such key unconscious materials.

Method: This article presents the theoretical relevance of archetypal analysis to AMT along with an in-vivo clinical example with a Korean young man demonstrating the use of techniques to access the unconscious. The expressed symbolic experience of the case is analyzed within the framework of the hero’s journey using the archetypal appraisal of Pearson.

Results: This heuristic analysis identifies two key archetypes corresponding to the presented clinical case and discusses the psychological features and psychosocial development of the case in relation to these archetypes. The clinical example supports the clinical feasibility of an archetypal analysis of the phantasies expressed in music therapy.

Discussion: The implications of archetypal analysis as well as its potential to enlarge and enrich the field of AMT are discussed in terms of theory, research, education, and practice.

KEYWORDS:

• Analytical music therapy
• trauma
• hero’s journey
• archetype
• improvisation

Acknowledgments

I would like to thank my AMT trainer, Dr. Seung-A Kim, for the guidance across my AMT training as well as for the supervisory support for this clinical case, which is in a partial fulfillment of this training. My warm thanks also go to my music therapy client.

Disclosure statement

The author reports no conflicts of interest.

Notes

¹ For more information on Brewster’s discussion of the shadow, see the chapter 7 of the book, African Americans and Jungian psychology: Leaving the shadows (Brewster, 2017).

² Although there is no directly related literature, Scheiby had in fact communicated with Grof taking workshops with him (K. Aigen, personal communication, 21 December 2020).

Additional information

Funding

No funding was received for this study.

Notes on contributors

Mi Hyun Bae

Mi Hyun Bae (PhD, FAMI) is a visiting professor at Hansei University and music therapist at Myungji Hospital in South Korea. She is also a Guided Imagery and Music trainer as a faculty member of the Atlantis Institute for Consciousness and Music, as well as a current Analytical Music Therapy trainee with trainer Dr. Seung-A Kim at Molloy College in the USA.