| This arts-based approach to clinical psychology, supported by the theories of Carl Jung and James Hillman, culminates in an understanding of songwriting as a therapeutic tool for exploring human shadow, that vast imaginal realm we “would rather not know.” In this study, two qualitative research methodologies are engaged. First, the author engages an exhaustive heuristic study, drawing on her dreams, art, stories from her life, authentic movement and of course her original songs. Second, a series of interviews with other songwriters utilizes a hermeneutic phenomenological approach. The research question, “What is the experience of songwriting?” enables the author to explore her own personal process from an emerging lens which sees songwriting as an avenue for exploring human shadow, while allowing co-researchers to explore the creative process from their own unique frames of reference. Finally, the author reviews and synthesizes learnings from both methodological approaches, elaborating on her therapeutic model and the clinical applications of what she has learned. An appendix of the heuristic data is included, with images and hyperlinks to original songs* in the compact disk version.;*All songs are copyrighted by the author, Helen Nienhaus Barba, 2004. |
