In 1988, the organization Convergences hosted a conference entitled “Creation and Madness,” in which Dr. Verdeau Paillès presented Dr. Amouyal's psycho-musical research. She expressed the following observa- tions regarding his music: “Dr. Amouyal considers artistic, vocal, instrumental, graphic, and corporal expression, as we all do; an essential tool for communication and personal balance, in addition to being potential sources of creativity, which in certain cases need to be discovered and developed. Thanks to years of research, he has produced an original music medium that can help medical and mental health practitioners in their daily procedures. With Dr. Amouyal's music, we conducted individual psychotherapy sessions with patients suffering from a severe form of neurosis. Unquestionably, this technique helped patients overcome certain obstacles in the healing process. The music fulfilled its role as a therapeutic tool.

1. Participants: 76 patients

Mrs. Marie-Christine Plumejeaud, a night nurse, suggests a musical listening in a hospital setting of primarily geriatric patients. These sessions took place in both long-term and short-term care, over the course of 61 nights. The 76 patients, male and female, with an average age of 80, suffered from serious medical conditions such as respiratory illness, Alzheimer's, depression, and various behavioral problems.

What was observed is that by simply making one of the musical recordings available broke the existential isolation felt by these individuals and acted as a calming refuge for patients confronted with suffering and solitude. The listening of selections from Dr Amouyal’s music offered a resolution to the distress these patients felt during their care. This music was a truly effective tool to help reach deep within the individual acting as a conduit for experiencing relaxation and a peaceful demeanor, especially for patients afflicted by Alzheimer's who displayed a deterioration of their cognitive and relational abilities.

2. Participants: 4 Caregivers

The program of receptive music with CAP was presented to four individual caregivers working in a hos- pital. The goal was to help them cope with the daily stress of their work overload. The facilitator was a nurse, who was a licensed relaxation specialist and trained in the CAP program. She offered 10 sessions of receptive music (one hour over 10 weeks) and a time for verbalization. The sessions were conducted weekly on the same day and at each individual home. The goal was just to relax and let go without any psychotherapeutic work. No final assessment was provided.

Clients listened to music during each session while in a comfortable position. After listening they repor- ted their feelings, perceptions, imagery or visions to the facilitator. The perceptions reported by these four women demonstrate how the music had an ablility to create a therapeutic effect and how they were able to bypass some emotional blocks. No information was provided about the music.

This program not only helped each practitioner to manage their stress at work but it released personal issues that were impairing their personal life.

Their words are reliably transcribed here by the facilitator. It is presented to give the professional an idea of the type of verbalization that occurs with CAP receptive music therapy.

Participants: 10 patients

Lyon-Sud Hospital is a long term geriatric care facility. Psychologist Maryanne Quenin implemented the Catharsis Technique with a group of patients with dementia presenting with disorientation, anxious agita- tion, grief and/or issues of abandonment. Soon after initiating the musical sessions, she observed changes in attitude toward others, reduced agitation, calm demeanor and verbalizations which were incomprehen- sible became clearer. Throughout the course of the musical program, she noted significant behavioral changes among the participants (14). Dr Bonnefoy reported that benefits of the program in regards to beha- vioral changes were still present 6 months after implementation of the Catharsis Technique.

Participants: 50 persons

Temps Fort is a non-profit organization whose staff is comprised entirely of psychologists, providing long- term psychological care for unemployed individuals since 1991. The director, Mrs. Fabienne Cattarossi, and seven staff psychologists were trained in the Catharsis Technique. The technique was implemented to treat a variety of emotional disturbances present in their patient population: severe depression, anguish, relatio- nal difficulties and stabilized psychoses.

For the director, the Catharsis Technique integrated itself seamlessly into the center’s practice, adding a new possibility for their patients to work through their life history using this innovative mediator. The psycho- logists appreciated the method because it offered the possibility for projective expression, which was sup- ported by a solid theoretical framework of implementation and analysis. The results revealed substantial psy- chic and emotional progress in more than 80% of program participants.

Participants: Adult females (1000 +)

The population was women with depression, obsessive-compulsive disorder, anxiety neurosis, hysteria, pho- bia, obsessive neurosis, traumatic stress and sexual abuse.

Dr Duclaud reported that the program was very successful especially with woman dealing with depression, anxiety neurosis, phobia, traumatic stress and sexual abuse. The program contributed to the healing process in more than 80% of the participants. As a result, a higher number of women involved in the Catharsis pro- gram was discharged after 3 months from the after care clinic to return home instead of needing continued hospitalization.

Dr Duclaud reported that the program was successful with woman dealing with hysteria but the success rate was only 60%. He observed nevertheless a positive effect on the release of physical symptoms and pain. Dr Duclaud reported that the impact on obsessive neurosis was more difficult to quantify even though he observed a significant reduction of anxiety with those patients.

Another study done in a rehabilitation center for long term unemployed workers (men & women) dealing with obsessive compulsive disorder, outcomes reveal the same significant reduction of anxiety with this population.

Dr. Lucien Duclaud (3) reported that musical selections with the Catharsis technique facilitate the emer- gence of feelings and traumatic experiences, confirming its distinctive cathartic power. Dr. Duclaud utilizes the Catharsis Technique exclusively as an expressive arts intervention.