Considering Cultural Values in Latinx Communities to Support Therapeutic Alliance

           Bad Bunny’s historic halftime show celebrated many aspects of Puerto Rican culture. As music therapists, it is important to understand cultural values and their impact on our clinical approaches to best support the therapeutic alliance with both the client and the client’s family.

In Melisa de León’s article “Mexican American Values and Therapeutic Alliance in Music Therapy: Composite Vignettes from the Rio Grande Valley”, she accounts her personal experience as a Mexican American providing music therapy services to her community in Rio Grande Valley, Texas. Two major values discussed include familismo and confianza.

Familismo emphasizes the importance of family as “a source of pride, identity, and support” (de León, 2023). Rather than the individualistic society in the United States, for collective societies around the world including Latin America, it is common to prioritize family needs over an individual’s needs. Families often include extended families and close friends, where elders are highly regarded. 

Confianza refers to the trust in someone or something, often providing a safe space for someone to feel comfortable being themselves. As music therapists, we can create a confianza by listening and learning from our clients, their cultural identity, and their personal experiences. 

Although there is not a lot of research on therapist self-disclosure, de León explains how sharing information about yourself or your family models self-disclosure and decreases the power imbalance between the therapist and client by making you seem more relatable. For some clients, asking personal questions can be a sign of respect by showing interest, value, and appreciation of the music therapist’s experiences.

Another way to support the therapeutic relationship is with familiarity of culturally relevant music, instruments, and musical language. For example, using instruments such as güiro, maracas, claves, bongos, conga, accordion, and cowbell can create a familiar and clinically meaningful musical atmosphere.

In addition to instruments, musical vocabulary differs from the Latin American countries and the United States such as the use of fixed “do” verses moveable “do”. As explained by de León, “Clients with experience in music education or regional ensembles (i.e., mariachi, banda, grupos, estudiantina, etc.) may describe music in this tonal context. For example, a client may request a song in “fa,” which would translate to the key of F major” (de León, 2023). 

Clients may have different levels of cultural identity “due to differences in generational status, immigration status, acculturation, and assimilation” (de León, 2023). Disconnection from someone’s culture or family may be a result of intergenerational or immigrational trauma or personal traumatic experiences. It’s always important to assess your client’s personal values and cultural identity and consider it’s impact on client’s behavior within sessions. Some examples de León states include composing or sharing meaningful songs related to their life or family memories or including other family members in the session.

In Vélez-Rodríguez thesis “Music Therapists’ Use Of Songs In Spanish: Song Suggestions In Music Therapy Facebook Groups,” a list of 304 songs were collected and categorized by name, artist, related countries, related genres, suggested settings, and suggested age groups. Here are a few songs that were suggested multiple times in the study:

Early Childhood:

• “Los Pollitos Dicen”

• “Saco Una Manita”

• “Pin Pon”

• “Dos Manitas, Diez Deditos”

Children:

• “De Colores”

• “El Chocolate” by José-Luis Orozco

• “De Ellos Aprendí” by David Rees

• “Al Tambor” by José-Luis Orozco

Young Adults:

• “Fotos y Recuerdos” by Selena

• “Calma” by Pedro Capó and Farruko 

• “La Magia”- Little Jesus

• “La Bicicleta” by Shakira and Carlos Vives 

Adults:

• “Ave Que Emigra” by Gaby Moreno

• “Dale Alegría a Mi Corazón” by Fito Páez 

• “El Cantor de Fonseca”by Jorge Oñate 

• “Bidi Bidi Bom Bom” by Selena

Older Adults:

• “Bésame Mucho” by Cielito Lindo 

• “Alma, Corazón y Vida” by Los Pachos

• “Sabor A Mi” by Álvaro Carrillo

• “La Flor de la Canela” by Maria Dolores Pradera 

Understanding our client’s values including familismo and confianza can help us as music therapists best support our clients with culturally appropriate music and interventions.

Resources:

de León, M. (2023). Mexican American values and therapeutic alliance in music therapy. (S. Hadley, Ed.).Voices: A World Forum for Music Therapy, 23(3). https://doi.org/10.15845/voices.v23i3.3922 

Vélez-Rodríguez, C. G. (2020). Music therapists’ use of songs in Spanish: Song suggestions in music therapy Facebook groups (thesis). Music Therapists’ Use of Songs in Spanish: Song Suggestions in Music Therapy Facebook Groups. ProQuest LLC, Ann Arbor.