How were professional boundaries developed and navigated in my practice as a student music therapist?

This exegesis explores how professional boundaries were developed and navigated in my practice as a student music therapist. Boundaries are an important aspect of therapy. The motivation for this research topic came from my interest in developing my ability to remain professional in the intimate therapeutic relationship and to ensure that I could navigate transference and countertransference. I used an interpretivist inquiry, with a hermeneutic lens, which examined the data from the context of my lived experiences during practicum. The data were from secondary sources, which included clinical notes, my reflexive journal and supervision notes. The two facilities I attended for practicum were a school for students with disabilities and a day centre for adults with disabilities. A thematic analysis of the data revealed that I did not struggle with maintaining boundaries in the ways I initially thought I would, however other boundaries that I navigated emerged and are discussed. Some of these boundaries were pre-conceived, while other boundaries I found I had to extend. Four key themes were developed using thematic analysis: The boundaries around navigating my position as a student; pushing my knowledge boundaries around people’s way of being; extending boundaries of music making in my music therapy practice to include non-normative, inclusive ways of playing; and, how music was a boundary that supported the creation and deepening of trust and connection.