Abstract:
Phonic and aphonic “Voice” (Lemoine, 1977) begin with the primal cry as a call seeking response. The aphonic cry (of the autistic) stands for a cry with or without any sound, which is not addressed to anyone. In the music therapy lingual relationship the therapist listens and responds to the aphonic cry of the autistic discovering the person’s aphonic “Voice” (Voice with capital V stands for the inner healthy reality of the client) assisting the person to reach an asymptomatic-healthy state of being, called the “FA-fonie” (FA-voice). Exerpts from case studies illustrate the topic.
Learner Objectives:
- Learn how to understand and respond to a phonic or aphonic cry.
- Learn how to understand the structure of the autistic’s inner self and the role that the music therapist can play to address the subject’s inner truth.
- Understand the different roles of music for the autistic person in three modalities: piano lessons, individual music therapy, community music therapy.
- Understand how to help the autistic person to enter the symbolic order through music.
About the Presenter:
Dr. Dora Psaltopoulou-Kamini is lecturer at Aristotle University of Thessaloniki-Greece (A.U.Th-GR). She is certified music therapist CMT (AMTA), holds a Ph.D (A.U.Th-GR) and a MA (NYU, NY-USA). She has completed her psychoanalytic training in Freudian, Lacanian approach. Since 1992, she has pioneered Music Therapy in Greece, and founded the Music Therapy Center of Thessaloniki (http://unpan1.un.org/intradoc/groups/public/documents/un-dpadm/unpan048664.pdf ). Her clinical work includes neurosis, psychosis, and autism. Since 1996, she has been a primary trainer and administrator at her private master’s level Music Therapy training program.
She is a research assistant at the Adolescent Unit of the 3rd Psychiatric Clinic (University Hospital AHEPA) and at the Institution of Chronic Diseases (Trikala). She organizes conferences and seminars, presents her work in national and international congresses. Her work is published at scientific reviews. People with disabilities and community music therapy are her main research interests. She is founding and professional member at relevant associations.
