In creative therapy, we have extensively discussed the immense importance of establishing a continuous creative conversation. Particularly, we know how this verbal language, closely linked to artistic expression, helps the patient. Immediately, the individual manages to communicate clear intentions, urgent needs, and very difficult emotions. All of this forms an essential part of their complex daily life experience. However, what happens when words simply are not enough or do not exist? At this critical point, body language takes on an enormous and vital role. To truly understand adolescence and nonverbal expression, we must look far beyond the obvious.
Nonverbal communication basically means communicating through the body without articulating a single word. Music therapists usually work deeply with the patient’s constant body language. Furthermore, we carefully analyze their gestures and their unique musical conversation skills in consultation. In turn, our own facial expressions serve directly to establish a warm proximity. Thus, we manage to nonverbally foster the therapeutic relationship and mutual trust. All this silent behavior between patient and therapist transmits constant and very deep meanings. Especially when addressing adolescence and nonverbal expression, these silent details are incredibly revealing.
Eye contact, general body posture, and subtle gestures speak for themselves. Even the instruments a patient selects and how they play them are direct messages. Likewise, the specific music they choose to listen to contains constant meanings that we must translate faithfully. Understanding these complex nonverbal and musical signals requires vast professional technical knowledge. It demands great presence, intuition, daily practice, and acute cultural sensitivity regarding their country of origin. Consequently, we usually address key therapeutic goals by actively including the patient’s body language. Mastering adolescence and nonverbal expression is absolutely fundamental for any real clinical success.
Music Therapy, Adolescence and Nonverbal Expression
People on the autism spectrum frequently present severe deficits in conventional speech. They also tend to have notable difficulties in daily and social expressive communication. For this reason, they tend to benefit enormously from well-structured musical therapeutic techniques. These tools allow us to stimulate socioemotional reciprocity in a very safe way. In addition, they facilitate the understanding of human relationships in a strictly nonverbal manner. While verbal language is always linear, musical language is wonderfully multidimensional. This dimensional richness is key when working on adolescence and nonverbal expression in autistic patients.
For example, a patient’s favorite song certainly has a linear temporal progression. However, its internal structure is totally multidimensional and very rich in nuances. It is harmonically composed of rhythm, pitch, timbre, volume, melody, and, of course, harmony. Depending on the applied clinical model of music therapy, all these dimensions are interpreted professionally. Within the psychodynamic perspective, every single element of the music is a symbolic projection. It faithfully represents totally unconscious aspects of the patient’s self at that precise moment. Therefore, music purely reveals adolescence and nonverbal expression.
The melody that the patient improvises always reveals attitudes towards their personal impulses and feelings. Even if that autistic person is completely nonverbal, the music they perform speaks for them. It reveals intimate aspects of their being, their urgent needs, and their current state of consciousness. Furthermore, the effects of the therapist’s nonverbal behavior greatly influence the session. They deeply affect the patients’ satisfaction and their general physical, cognitive, and emotional well-being. Our affective expression and physical proximity directly stimulate their great motivation to participate actively. Understanding adolescence and nonverbal expression guarantees a general positive clinical effect in the long term.
Sofia’s Case and Transverbal Vocal Techniques
Regarding specific methodologies with nonverbal patients, there are invaluable improvisation techniques. Through them, we actively incorporate the vocal sounds of speech-impaired patients. We also work with idiosyncratic language, which means the language invented by the patient themselves. Sofia was a nonverbal patient with very severe athetoid cerebral palsy. Emotionally, she showed strong symptoms of constant maternal separation anxiety. She had a great fear that her mother would leave her and never return. The technique applied with her is the exact basis for understanding adolescence and nonverbal expression.
Sofia showed a persistent opposition to collaborating in all physical rehabilitation therapies. She presented excessive signs of anxiety, showing inconsolable crying before the possible maternal separation. Her anxiety explosions prevented the medical staff from capturing her motivation and full attention. Therefore, they worked by rigidly forcing her to perform the scheduled physical exercises daily. She stiffly stretched her body to avoid being manipulated while crying continuously. To help her, I immediately began to softly improvise a beautiful greeting song with my guitar. Instantly, this musical resource connected directly with her instinctive adolescence and nonverbal expression.
While singing, I tried not to establish direct eye contact because this intimidated her greatly. She stopped sobbing almost immediately after hearing the introduction on the acoustic guitar. I was able to improvise a whole song while she listened and observed with her big eyes. Then, I decided to subtly incorporate the glissandi of her initial crying into the new song. I used the technique of musical empathy and began to imitate her own vocal sounds. This brought her a lot of surprise and pleasure; she stopped making her sounds to listen to mine. Her story beautifully demonstrates the healing power of transverbal connection. Finally, adolescence and nonverbal expression manage to transform deep isolation into pure healing communication.
