Music therapy interaction patterns in relation to borderline personality disorder (BPD) patients

TLDR: In this article, the authors presented the method and results of a systematic qualitative research of 20 BPD female patients undergoing individual psychoanalytical music therapy in an acute psychiatric context, identifying typical interaction patterns arising from the relationship between patient and therapist and also from the significance of music.

Abstract: Music therapy for patients suffering from borderline personality disorder (BPD) has been a standard treatment option for many years in in-patient psychiatric work The BPD symptoms, such as identity disturbance, emotional regulation and unstable relationships, lead to challenging and stormy therapy sessions for all therapists of all disciplines In music therapy, difficulties in treatment include, for example, the patient’s refusal to play, extreme loud music or withdrawal from the process This article presents the method and results of a systematic qualitative research of 20 BPD female patients undergoing individual psychoanalytical music therapy in an acute psychiatric context The aim of the research was to identify typical interaction patterns, arising from the relationship between patient and therapist and also from the significance of music The method “forming types by understanding” is based on the well-known sociological research method of “ideal types” Abstracted results are generated by contr