Carola Maack

Qualifications
B.A. in music teaching, M.A. in music therapy, psychotherapist (HPG); training completed in the Bonny Method of Guided Imagery and Music (BMGIM), in Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR), and in supervision.

Current jobs
Work in private practice with an emphasis on trauma in the area of Hamburg (Germany). Lectureship at the University of Applied Sciences in Frankfurt (Germany) and Primary Trainer for BMGIM (AMI).

Contact details
Carola Maack, Institut für imaginative Psychotherapie und Musik, Lohbergenweg 39, 21244 Buchholz, Germany, Tel.: +49-4187-600853, e-mail: c.maack@t-online.de.

Web: http://www.gim-therapie.de/ (online from mid-January 2011)

Doctoral Study

Title
Comparing the Treatment Outcome of the Bonny Method of Guided Imagery and Music (BMGIM) and its Adaptations with Psychodynamic Imaginative Trauma Therapy (PITT) for Female Patients with Complex Posttraumatic Stress Disorder

Research questions
1. Is either BMGIM or PITT or both of these methods indicated for severely traumatized adult patients?
2. When would BMGIM and when would PITT be indicated?
3. What are the roles of music in imagery-based trauma therapy? What could music be particularly helpful with? Are there limitations in the use of music?

Method
For the study, a mixed methods design of quantitative and qualitative research was chosen. The emphasis is on the clients' perspective. The quantitative part consists of an outcome study of GIM and PITT in out-patient psychotherapy with women with Complex PTSD. Clients fill out a number of questionnaires in the beginning of therapy, after 25 therapy-hours, and after 50 therapy-hours. It is assumed that both methods are effective, however differences in the sub-scales of the questionnaires are expected. The outcome is compared also to a control-group. For the GIM-group, there will be a separate but matched follow-up group to look at long-term effects.
The qualitative part will be heuristic research based on the work of Moustakas (1990). Some clients will be interviewed about their experiences with the role of music, imagery, and therapeutic relationship. These interviews and the researcher's own experiences as a GIM-client will be included in this part of the study.

Latest 1-page summary
In this presentation I will focus on a pilot-study with the aim to look at the roles of music in some of my personal GIM-sessions. The goals of that are the following:
- Starting to reflect on the roles of music in trauma-therapy with GIM and getting some ideas about possible underlying theory;

- Reflecting more on my personal beliefs around the music and around trauma-therapy;

- Finding good ways for asking the research participants about their experience with the music in the qualitative part of my study.
To get access to some of my more implicit and tacit knowledge, I chose four sessions in which the music played an important role. I made short descriptions of the imagery of those sessions, and chose the most important piece or pieces of music from it. Using this music and an adapted form of re-imaging (Bruscia 1998), I went back into the imagery with the help of a GIM-guide imagining I were the music and speaking from that place. Shortly afterwards I reflected on the individual experiences and also discussed it with colleagues. The material was analyzed according to Moustakas' (1990) method of heuristic research. Categories of the roles of music were produced and linked to different theories of therapy.

References
Bruscia, K.E. (ed.) (1998), The Dynamics of Music Psychotherapy. Gilsum: Barcelona Publishers.

Moustakas, C. (1990). Heuristic Research: Design, Methodology, and Applications. Newbury Park, London, New Delhi: Sage Publications.

Publications
Maack, C. (1997). GIM - Guided Imagery and Music nach Dr. Helen Bonny. In: L. Berger (Ed.), Musik,

Magie & Medizin. Paderborn: Junfermann Verlag.

Maack, C. & Nolan, P. (1999). The Effects of GIM Therapy on Reported Change in Normal Adults. Journal of Music Therapy.

Maack, C. (2003). Vorstellung einer musiktherapeutischen Privatpraxis unter berufspolitischen Kriterien. In: Deutsche Gesellschaft für Musiktherapie (Ed.), Tagungsdokumentation: "Indikation… und was dann?" Berlin 2002. Berlin: Deutsche Gesellschaft für Musiktherapie.

Maack, C. (2004). Kulturelle Aspekte in der Arbeit mit rezeptiver Musiktherapie am Beispiel von Guided Imagery and Music nach Helen Bonny (GIM). In: I. Frohne-Hagemann (Ed.), Theorie und Praxis Rezeptiver Musiktherapie. Wiesbaden: Reichert Verlag.

Maack, C. (2004). Rezeptive Musiktherapie als Psychotherapie für Menschen mit Persönlichkeitsstörungen. In: T. Timmermann (Ed.), Empfinden - Hören - Sehen: Welche Zugänge wählen nonverbale Psychotherapien? Am Beispiel der Diagnose: Persönlichkeitsstörung. Wiesbaden: Reichert Verlag.

Maack, C. (2006). BMGIM in Psychotherapy for Patients with Complex PTSD. Conference Procedings of the Australasian Music & Imagery Conference, Auckland, Neuseeland.

Maack, C. (2006) The Bonny Method of Guided Imagery and Music (BMGIM) and its Adaptations in Psychotherapy for Patients with Complex Posttraumatic Stress Disorder
see text

Maack, C. (2007). Cultural Aspects of the Bonny Method of Guided Imagery and Music (BMGIM). In: I. Frohne-Hagemann (Ed.), Receptive Music Therapy: Theory and Practice. Wiesbaden: Reichert Verlag.

Maack, C. (2007). Guided Imagery and Music nach Helen Bonny (GIM) in der psychotherapeutischen Arbeit mit Menschen mit komplexer posttraumatischer Belastungsstörung. www.uniklinik-ulm.de/fileadmin/Kliniken/Psych_Medizin_Psychotherapie/Dokumente/Forschung/musik_vortrag07_maack.doc.

Geiger, E.M. & Maack, C. (2010). Lehrbuch Guided Imagery and Music nach Helen Bonny (GIM). Wiesbaden: Reichert Verlag.

Maack, C. (2010). Review of the book „Der Riss in der Tafel: Amoklauf und schwere Gewalt in der Schule“ (The Crack in the Blackboard: School Shootings and Severe Violence at Schools) by F.J. Robertz & R.P. Wickenhäuser. Psychotherapie Aktuell 4/10, 42-43.