Ekaterina Molodykh  – “Voice-Grieving in Traditional Folklore: Possibilities of Using Voicework in Situations of Trauma and PTSD”

The traditional culture of any country essentially serves as a music-therapeutic and psychological tool, enabling communities to navigate grief and the emotions of their everyday lives and stoties. In Russian folklore, a unique number of “laments” has been preserved— a special musical genre in which the emotions of a grieving person are expressed through a song. Laments traditionally accompanied all rites of passage (such as weddings, funerals, military enlistment ceremonies, childbirth, etc.), often alongside spiritual verses (folk songs on spiritual themes).

This presentation aims to clarify the following:

– The characteristics of the psycho-physical state of individuals experiencing grief, trauma, or PTSD.

– The structure of traditional laments, including their physiological, improvisational, and musical attributes.

– The impact of lamenting and singing practices on the state of a grieving person (working with the diaphragm, repetitive movements, rising and breaking intonations).

– The possibilities for contemporary use of traditional lament techniques even without immersion in the corresponding cultural context.

– The process of employing these techniques in both individual and group work, online and offline.

– Some indicators of potential client states following lamenting; a possible framework for group and individual work.

– The relevance of using vocal music therapy in today’s historical context.

My goal is to share practical insights, case studies, and musical examples with the participants while also explaining the structure of this genre’s functioning. This will enable music therapists participating in the workshop to reproduce this technique using their cultural material and to improvise according to their clients’ situations. I would also like to address the importance of therapist safety during therapy, including professional boundaries and limits, as well as the role and significance of group support for both therapists and clients.

Biography