| The researcher sought to confirm and further explore reports that information from the unconscious could be found in songs-on-the-mind, adding Jungian, humanistic, and transpersonal perspectives. She recruited 40 coresearchers (10 males and 30 females; ages 22 to 74; 2 Asian, Asian/White, 2 Pacific Islander, Pacific Islander/White, and 36 White, Non-Latino/Hispanic) who had found personal meaning or messages in spontaneously arising songs on their minds. Using a self-report questionnaire, they described 1 such experience in detail and characterized their experiences like this in general. A subset of 12 coresearchers attended to songs on their minds for 3 to 6 weeks, following deepening techniques (songwork) developed by the researcher. Songwork included focused listening to the song internally, singing it, dancing to it, thinking about its personal meaning, and writing in a journal. The researcher did a qualitative thematic analysis of data from questionnaires, journals, and interviews, including personal messages from a total of 88 songs-on-the-mind. The results revealed a profile of a typical experience and confirmed that spontaneous songs-on-the-mind can involve information from the unconscious. Songs-on-the-mind frequently evoked emotions and appeared to process unconscious material, such as inner conflicts or grief. Spiritual and transpersonal themes were common. Pairs of opposite themes often were found within the same song message. Like dreams, songs on the mind often provided insight or guidance. They differed from dreams in more frequently being comforting and less frequently having a nightmare quality. Songwork deepened and helped integrate song messages. Results suggested that songs-on-the-mind support self-actualization and individuation. In conclusion, this research confirmed previous reports of unconscious material in songs-on-the-mind, revealed further information on the processes involved, and developed and tested a technique for working with songs-on-the-mind. |
