Review (PDF) Between Couch And Piano: Psychoanalysis, Music, Art And Neuroscience
Why and how do music and abstract art pack such universal appeal? Why do they often have 'therapeutic' efficacy?Between Couch and Piano links well-established psychoanalytic ideas with historical and neurological theory to help us begin to understand some of the reasons behind music's ubiquity and power. Drawing on new psychoanalytic understanding as well as advances in neuroscience, this book sheds light on the role of the arts as stimulus, and as a key to creative awareness. Subjects covered include:* music in relation to the trauma of loss* music in connection with wholeness and the sense of identity* the ability of music to jump-start normal feelings, motion and identity where these have been seemingly destroyed by neurological disease* the theory of therapeutic efficacy of music and art. Between Couch and Piano is a comprehensive overview that will be of interest to all those intrigued by the interrelation of psychoanalysis and the creative arts.www.psychoanalysisarena.com
Paperback: 224 pages
Publisher: Brunner-Routledge; 1 edition (May 19, 2004)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1583919732
ISBN-13: 978-1583919736
Product Dimensions: 5.4 x 0.5 x 8.5 inches
Shipping Weight: 12.3 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)
Best Sellers Rank: #2,876,867 in Books (See Top 100 in Books) #85 in Books > Humor & Entertainment > Sheet Music & Scores > Composers > Gilbert #362 in Books > Humor & Entertainment > Sheet Music & Scores > Forms & Genres > Musicals #362 in Books > Humor & Entertainment > Sheet Music & Scores > Historical Period > Modern Popular
Continuing on the theme that some music reflects our pre-verbal, implicit memories, for example how sweet melodies offer a soothing reassurance or express a longing for oneness and love, the author suggests that some music is also created and listened to in order to help process/integrate early events that caused one to feel overwhelmed. Music then can also serve as a comfort in a way not all that dissimilar to how a loving mother comforts her child when he or she is stressed out. The rhythms and vocals from a musican seem to sometimes resemble the gentle swaying and singing given to a child. This may be one of the reasons why a song may get stuck in one's head - to try to heal an unresolved memory. Likewise, abstract art is an attempt to represent how it might have felt to have been given "too much too soon" (ie: a feeling of being fragmented into several parts, blanking out, etc). In other words, the author seems to be saying that some music and art reflect an attempt to heal the symptoms of PTSD to one degree or another. To heal a traumatic event after the age of three, when the hippocampus kicks in, one can simply talk to a trusted close friend. The reason it's difficult to find the right words with memories prior to that is because that was the time when the timeless amygdala ran the show. The hippocampus is needed to reflect and contextualize."Nonverbal art, like music stimulates and gratifies the expectancies of a motivational system that seeks corroborating reflections of the flow of one's own mental life by offering augmented and slowed-down external images of virtual tensions and release in the form of aesthetic equivalents of the flow of mental life.
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