Book Review: A Music Therapist Reads “Sing You Home”
Portrayals of music therapists in the media are scarce. There’s the movie “The Music Never Stopped” based on true events written in an Oliver Sacks essay. And last weekend I finished reading one of the only fictional accounts of a music therapist I know of (until I pitch my dramedy TV pilot of a music therapist making her way in the big city for internship to the major networks).
The book: “Sing You Home” by Jodi Picoult. I had heard of the book when it came out in 2009, but I had put off reading it because I wasn’t sure what I’d make of this portrayal of music therapy. This story follows a music therapist, Zoe Baxter, through her infertility difficulties and subsequent divorce. As Zoe heals from these challenges, she is surprised to find herself in a lesbian relationship and in the middle of a custody battle for frozen embryos with her ex-husband.
According to her website, Jodi Picoult did due diligence in her research while building Zoe, the main character who works as a music therapist. Picoult shadowed multiple music therapists and met with faculty at the Berklee School of Music in Boston and describes her first-hand experiences as an observer.
Picoult’s research shows. Within the first few pages I identified with the music therapist’s voice. Throughout the story, I found Zoe to be a three dimensional character and far from the simplistic interpretation of music therapists as “entertainers” as many public perceptions hold. The book opens with Zoe leading an individual music therapy session. The interventions were true to real-life scenarios and gave explanations that were both comprehensive and balanced. It was great: all the details I wish I could describe to an observer were walking readers through the reasoning for Zoe’s decisions regarding the music and her responses to her clients. If I gave the same information to an in-person observer, it would be information overload, but within the format of a novel, it works.
Of course, there were a few moments of the book that I was concerned about. At one point, Zoe struggles with an ethical dilemma over how much to reveal about herself and her personal history to a client. While I might have handled things differently than Zoe, her conflict is relatable and is not so egregious as to write her off as a bad clinician.
Another nitpicky issue I had with the book was a line that is echoed on Picoult’s website:
“Every time you sing along to a happy song on a sunny day in the car, you’re using music therapy. After a breakup if you listen to the same sad song over and over, you’re using music therapy. During childbirth if you use music as a focal point – that’s music therapy.”
Though the spirit of these lines is well-intended, I wouldn’t choose these words to describe music’s therapeutic qualities. A huge misconception is that music therapy is something incidental, when it in fact takes multiple years of training and clinical experience. Just as you aren’t doing “physical therapy” when you stretch after a workout, “music therapy” cannot be done by binge listening to music because it ignores the necessary relationship between client and music therapist.
However, in the scheme of things I found myself comfortable with how music therapy was portrayed in the book. Without needing to feel defensive about music therapy, I was able to enjoy the story and was challenged by the issues of reproductive and gay rights posed by the characters and story. Picoult deepened the connection between music and her story by collaborating with singer Ellen Wilber to create original songs that corresponded with each chapter of the book. Hearing Zoe’s voice (quite literally) was quite the treat.
Ellen Degeneres owns the movie rights to the book so this story may be taken to the silver screen in the future. I’m looking forward to the opportunity for this story and the awareness it brings to music therapy to reach a larger audience. I enthusiastically recommend this book to anyone looking for a compelling story that looks fairly at both music therapy and the complicated issues of reproductive and gay rights.