When working with group therapy it is sometimes relevant to create a focus on certain moods or issues in the group, music can be a very effective tool for that.

Stanislav Grof, one of the fathers of Transpersonal psychology use music extensively.

A brrief outline of the model of the psyche, and as a consequence, relevant ways of working with it, follows.

Stanislav Grof
Stanislav Grof has categorized a transpersonal experiences in relation to the birth trauma, and uncovering chain of events (the coex system).

Stanislav Grof operates with 3 categories in the human psyche:

The Biographical layer
Our personal history and our personal unconsciousness.

The Perinatal layer
The encounter with birth and death, as they occur in the birth-trauma.

The Transpersonal layer
the consciousness expanded beyond the usual ego boundaries,
beyond the usual orientation in time and space.

 

Stanislav Grof has described the function of the psyche as a
COEX SYSTEM a SYSTEM OF CONDENSED EXPERIENCE

A COEX system is a dynamic constellation of memories (and associated fantasy material) from different periods of the individuals life, with the common denominator of a strong emotional charge of the same quality, intense physical sensation of the same kind, or the fact that they share some other important elements.

Grof, Beyond the Brain p.97

Grof introduces (at least) two
important concepts:
COEX SYSTEMS
BASAL PERINATAL MATRICES

We will not go into the history of the concepts, just work with them from Grof’s understanding and use of the terms.

The COEX systems represent a general organizing principle operating on all levels of the psyche.

Now - Earlier similar event - Birth - Myth - Past life

It is not uncommon for a dynamic constellation (COEX system) to comprise material from several biographical periods, from biological birth and from certain areas of the transpersonal realm, such as past incarnation memories, animal identification, and mythological sequences.

Grof: Beyond the Brain p.97

The COEX system may not uncover in the linear time order.

 

Grof divides the birth process up in four stages or
PERINATAL MATRICES

 

BPM I: Unity with the mother
BPM II: Opposition to the mother
BPM III: Cooperation with the mother
BPM IV: Separation from the mother

BPM I
The biological basis of this matrix is the experience of the original symbiotic unity of the fetus with the maternal organism…
During episodes of undisturbed life in the womb, the conditions of the child can be close to ideal.
However, a variety of factors of physical, chemical, biological and psychological nature can seriously interfere with this state.
The undisturbed intra-uterine state can be accompanied by other experiences that share with it a lack of boundaries and obstructions, such as consciousness of the ocean, an aquatic life form (Whale, fish, jellyfish, anemone, or kelp), or interstellar space. Also Nature at its best.
Archetypal images from the collective unconscious could be the heavens or paradises of different cultures, cosmic union or mystical union.
The disturbances of inter-uterine life are associated with images and experiences of underwater dangers, polluted streams, contaminated or inhospitable nature, and insidious demons.
The mystical dissolution of boundaries is replaced by a psychotic distortion with paranoid undertones.
BPM II
This matrix has its biological basis in the very onset of biological delivery and its first clinical stage.
Here the original equilibrium of the intra-uterine existence is disturbed, first by alarming signals and then by muscular contractions. When this stage fully develops, the foetus is periodically constricted by uterine spasms; the cervix is closed and the way out is not yet available.
Imagery following BPM II is the experience of cosmic engulfment, overwhelming feelings of increasing anxiety and awareness of an imminent vital threat. The source of this danger cannot be clearly identified, and the subject has a tendency to interpret the world in paranoid terms. Very characteristic for this stage is the experience of a three dimensional spiral, funnel or whirlpool, sucking the subject relentlessly towards its centre.
An equivalent of this annihilating maelstrom is the experience of being swallowed by a terrifying monster, such as a giant dragon, python, crocodile or whale. Equally frequent are experiences of attack by a monstrous octopus or spider.
Archetypal imagery is the beginning of the hero’s journey, the fall of the angels, paradise lost.
Images of being stuck, in prison or concentration camp or even hell are also common.
Common feelings are agonizing metaphysical loneliness, helplessness, inferiority, despair and guilt.

BPM III
This matrix has its biological basis in the second stage of delivery. The uterine contractions continue and in fact increase but now the cervix is dilated, allowing the child through.

Imagery following BPM III can be titanic fights, sadomasochistic experiences, intense sexual arousal, demonic and scatological images and encounter with fire.
In short the scene is a death - rebirth struggle.

Characteristic symbolic themes are raging elements of nature (volcanoes, electrical storms, earth ­quakes, tidal waves and tornadoes), violent scenes of war or revolutions, and high-power technology (atomic bombs and rockets).

Related archetypal themes are images of the Last Judgement, superheroes and their deeds, and mythological battles.
Other mythological symbolism is that of sacrifice and glorification of sacrifice.

A classic symbol of the transition from BPM III to BPM IV is the bird Phoenix, whose old form dies in fire, and a new form rises from the ashes and soars toward the sun.

BPM IV
This matrix relates to the actual birth of the child.
Imagery following the actual birth can be death-rebirth experiences.
The transition from BPM III to BPM IV involves a sense of annihilation on all imaginable levels - physical destruction, emotional debacle, intellectual defeat, ultimate moral failure, and absolute damnation of transcendental proportions, - ego death.
The experiences of total annihilation is immediately followed by visions of blinding white or golden light of supernatural radiance and beauty.
The death process is in fact the same, but in reverse order.

Divine archetypes, rainbows, peacocks, nature re­awaken in spring, spiritual liberation, redemption and salvation, a flood of positive emotions toward oneself, other people, and existence in general.

The Perinatal Experiences and our basic attitudes

Grof has been able almost beyond doubt, that a huge amount of our stubborn thought patterns, phobias, and general attitudes can be tracked down to experiences in the birth process . A furthering of this off course is, that our birth is where our karma from past lives is literally squeezed into us.

A general idea of the impact from the different stages could be:

BPM I: Positive experiences: Trust, expansion, union with the cosmos.
Negative experiences: Paranoia, hypochondria, confusing daydreams with reality
BPM II:Positive experiences: ?
Negative experiences: Depression, cardboard world inferiority and guilt alcohol and drug dependency.
BPM III:Positive experiences: It pays to fight for something
Negative experiences: Sadomasochism, scatological elements, obsessive-compulsive neurosis, stammering, migraine headache.
BPM IV:Positive experiences: The world is a beautiful and safe place
Negative experiences: Total annihilation, ego death, manic experiences.

 

Music as a stirrer

In many groups there are powerful deniers, people that conscious or subconscious are unwilling to face issues. However, a part of them is ready since they are at a workshop.
A way of testing their readiness, or in a indirect way edge them towards being honest about their non-readiness, is by using stirring music, say in a break.
A lot of music has that aspect build in, as if the composer knew that a lot of people would be half asleep at the level he was trying to convey in his music.

Examples:
Nature sounds: Thunder clasps
Hykes: Hallelujah
Strawinsky: Le Sacre du Printemps

 

Stanislav Grof has developed the art of stirring

He is using music in connection to breathing exercises (hyperventilation)
We will strongly warn against playing with this technique without personal supervision from a qualified breathworker. We do not use breathwork ourselves, and our experience is that many group participants reach transpersonal experiences simply because of the balance in the group. Stanislav Grof’s choice of music is still interesting even though his holotropic breathwork is not used.

Grof writes: Good music seems to be of particular value in nonordinary states of consciousness, where it has several functions. It helps to mobilize old emotions and make them available for expression, intensifies and deepens the process, and provides a meaningful context for the experience. The continuous flow of music creates a carrying wave that helps the subject move through difficult experiences and impasses, overcome psychological defences, surrender, and let go.
Skilful use of musical selection can also facilitate the emergence of specific contents, such as aggression, emotional or physical pain, sexual and sensual feelings, birth struggle, ecstatic rapture, or the oceanic atmosphere of the womb.

Stanislav Grof: The Adventure of Self-discovery p 185 - 186

 

Grof, about music used in holotropic therapy:
It is essential to surrender completely to the flow of music

In holotropic and psychedelic therapy it is essential to surrender completely to the flow of music, let it resonate in one’s entire body, and respond to it in a spontaneous and elemental fashion. This includes manifestations that would be unthinkable in a concert hall, where even silent tears or coughing might be a source of embarrassment. Here one has to give full expression to whatever the music is triggering - crying or laughing, grimacing, shaking, various contortions of the body, sensual pelvic movements, and any other emotional, vocal and motor manifestations.

Stanislav Grof: The Adventure of Self-discovery p 186

 

When the purpose of your work is to evoke experiences

If the therapist is aware of the specific content of the experience [that the client has], he or she can support it by an appropriate choice of music.
When the subject’s comments and body movements indicate that the experience has a strong sexual emphasis, the music should be sensual and erotic.
Rimsky-Korsakov’s Scherazade, Wagner’s Venusberg music from Tanheuser and Isolde’s death from Tristan and isolde, or Prokofie’s love scene from Rome and Juliet could be used here as prime examples.

Similarly, aggressive experiential episodes indicate choice of dynamic music, such as sequences of powerful drumming and primitive human voices from aboriginal rituals or shamanic procedures, Mars from Holst’s Planets, or dramatic orchestral selections from Wagner’s operas

Episodes of oceanic ecstasy, unitive cosmic feelings, or a sense of overwhelming love will require a choice of music that conveys corresponding emotions and states of consciousness.

Sometimes it is possible to be even more specific. If the subject reports experiential sequences from specific cultures, such as past life memory from Russia, India, or Japan, the therapist should choose music characterising that culture, or at least music that sounds similar.

Occasionally, recordings of natural sounds might be very effective. Here belong, for example, the intra-abdominal sounds of a pregnant woman (Lullaby from the Womb), songs of the humpback whales, voices of the wolves*, noises of insects, such as chirping of crickets or humming of the bees, singing of passerine birds, rushing of creeks and rivers, the rhythms of the splashing waves approaching the ocean shore, or the astronomical sound tracks portraying the emissions from the pulsars.

Stanislav Grof: The Adventure of Self-discovery p 187

*We do not recommend the use of wolf-cries as they can open to lover astral energies!


 

Grof, about music used in holotropic therapy

The basic rule [in respect of choice of music] is to respond sensitively to the phase, intensity, and content of the experience, rather than try to impose a specific pattern on it. This is in congruence with the general philosophy of holotropic therapy, particularly with the deep respect for the wisdom of the collective unconscious and the autonomy and spontaneity of the healing process.

In general, preferences should be given to music of high artistic quality that is not well known, and has little concrete content. One should avoid playing songs and other vocal pieces in which the verbal content conveys a specific message or suggest a definite theme. When vocal compositions are used, they should be in a language that is not known to the participant, so that the human voice is perceived as an unspecific stimulus. For the same reason, it is preferable to avoid pieces with which clients have specific intellectual associations.

Stanislav Grof: The Adventure of Self-discovery p 188

 

Objection against the use of music in holotropic and psychedelic sessions
And - we might add-good second thoughts anyway

The major objection against the use of music in holotropic and psychedelic sessions is that the choice of music has a strong structuring influence on the experience, even if we avoid gross programming and try to adjust the music to the nature of the experience. This is particularly true if holotropic therapy is used in the context of a large group. Here the best a therapist can do is to observe the situation in the room and use statistical principles - adjust the choice according to what seems to be the prevailing atmosphere in the room. In this way, it is inevitable that the choice of music will be less than optimal for some of the members of the group.

Stanislav Grof: The Adventure of Self-discovery p 189

Music we often use to evoke BPM-type experiences:

• Joergen Mortensen: Spiro

• Cyklus

• Per Nørgård: Iris Libra

• Heart-sounds from the womb

• Ocean-waves

• Sounds of the Humpback whales

 

After powerful experiences people needs a lull, time to calm down, integrate and prepare for a next wave of intensity

Music as a soother

In a normal life we have feelings that are up and down, in groups these feelings are often amplified. After powerful work, with a lot of feelings on the boil, it may be a very good idea to put on a peace of music that is soothing while having a break.
Often just doing that, can mean that the atmosphere is much better for further work on the issue after the break.

Good examples
Beethoven Eroica
Zamphir

 

Music as a stabilizer

The difference between soothing and stabilizing could be described this way:

Soothing brings you away from the hot issue
Stabilizing makes you better capable to face the hot issue

Music that is stabilizing:
The Ocean
Tambura
Bells



 

If you want to be able to trust your own reactions and intuitions
check your grounding!

Physically speaking - To be able to stand on ones own feet, e.g. that the balance between tension and relaxation in the muscular system is adequate to the situation in question
Psychologically speaking - That the individual is able to maintain a balanced everyday life, to get things done, manifest what is needed, and to relax, to enjoy.
Spiritually speaking - That the individual has a balanced way of living life, not in disharmony with nature’s laws, spiritual principles and the individual’s own higher Self, and has the courage and integrity, to live what a thoroughly tested and considered inner guidance requires, even if it seems against common sense.


Listen to the music mentioned in this lesson. Be aware of your physical reactions and grounding (cold feet), when and how they change:

Breathing
Body posture
Tensions
Aces and pains
Numbness

Be aware of your psychological reactions and grounding
when and how they change:
Basic mood before the music
Shifting moods during the music
Memories
Images
Thoughts
Level of creativity

Take note of your experiences