Collaborative resonant writing and musical improvisation to explore the concept of resonance

Resonance is often used to characterize relationships, but is a complex concept that explains quite different physical, physiological and psychological processes. With the aim to gain a deeper insight in the concept of resonance, a group of ten music therapy researchers embarked on a joint journey of exploration. This included an aim to let the internal learning process be disseminated in a way where others could get insight from not only the findings, but also the process. Findings include a double understanding of Resonance as (1) a visible and ordered phenomenon consisting of physical vibrations and acoustic sounding that offers a clear logic, (2) a metaphorical conceptualization used to describe and understand complex psychological processes of human relationships. The process of collaborative writing led to the discovery or development of a nine-step procedure including different collaborative, resonant writing procedures and musical improvisation as well as a series of metaphors to explain therapeutic interaction, resonant learning and ways of resonant exploration.