And We Became One: Exploring psychological processes in group music therapy with chronically mentally-ill adults 
 
Presentation in three parts by: 
 
Lillian Eyre, M.M., A.M.P.S., M.T.A. (Part I) 
Phyllis Mayers, M.S.W. (Part III) 
Hélène Century, B.M.T., music therapy student during the filming of this project. (Part II) 
 
 
Part I: (Lillian Eyre, music therapist) 
 
Four years ago, Phyllis Mayers, (MSW), a social worker in the the Department of the Psychiatry at the MGH, suggested that we jointly offer a weekly music group for chronically mentally ill clients. From this shared perspective, we have the priviledge of following the progress of our clients both in the group and in their daily lives as they struggle with problems of living, relationships, emotions and sense of self.  
 
What we are actually observing is the inter-relation of three worlds: the world of existence, the social and expressive world of the music group, and the world of the psyche. All three worlds, including past and future, are active at every moment in the present. It is the convergence of these worlds within the three dimensions of time and space that will be the focus of our talk today. (See diagram 1.) 
 
Phyllis will introduce you to some of the clients in this group and will describe how behaviour and attitudes seen in the course of the music therapy group are manifested in clients' daily lives. In the context of these case studies, I will offer a theoretical sketch of the psychological processes involved in music improvisation. Last year, I had the priviledge to work with a student who brought much to this group with her musical and intellectual skills. Hélène Century will be analyzing the relationship between musical improvisation and psychological processes.  
 
The title of this presentation came from one of the members in this group. After working on improvisations in the course of a session, the group achieved a high level of musical cohesion in one particular effort. The delighted and spontaneous response was summed up in the sentence, "We became one." One major goal of improvisation is to provide the opportunity to experience the peace and congruence with oneself that comes from clarity and from being in harmony with oneself as well as with others, and so this response was borrowed as a title. 
 
In my professional work, the question I most often pose to myself is "is this helping, and if so, how ?" This leads back to the basic question: What does each person here need, or what are the needs of this group? This will be considered in this presentation in three stages.  
 
1. What does it mean to have schizophrenia from a phenomenological point of view? For the purposes of this paper, I will use the term phenomenology as defined by the Penguin Dictionary of Psychology, " the basic issue for a phenomenological analysis is to avoid focusing upon the physical events themselves and instead to deal with how they are perceived and experienced. Real meaning for a phenomenologist is to be derived by examining the individual's relationship with and reactions to these real world events." This then, is the patient's subjective view of the experience of schizophrenia.  
 
2. Examining the same subject from an objective point of view, what are the long-term adult developmental issues that are affected by the experience of this illness, and secondly, what are the behaviours and internal processes that can be positively influenced by therapy? 
 
3. How can musical improvisation be used to aid the individual to meet the challenges of persons living with schizophrenia? This includes a consideration of the psychological processes involoved in creativity. 
 
Throughout, as we discuss theory, I invite you to consider how it relates to the individuals presented by Phyllis. If your medium is not music, could aspects of this theory apply to your work? 
 
1. Subjective, or phenomenological meaning of schizophrenia. 
 
We share a cultural belief that life proceeds according to some basic agenda. Whatever that agenda may be, it is dramatically interrupted with the onset of schizophrenia. The first appearance of the disease is usually at the stage of young adulthood, when, as we know from Erikson's stages, the predominant issues are: identity, finding a role for oneself in society, intimacy and development of relationships.  
 
This illness brings with it many losses. Just when the young adult is considering potential careers and thinking about love relationships, exploring a world of interests which have been expanding since infancy, there is a confusing period where things go off track with no evident reason for it. Poor concentration, falling grades, lack of interest in activities which previously were a source of energy and excitement, social withdrawal and alienation finally culminate in a traumatic experience which we call psychosis. In this state, barriers between unconscious and conscious are weakened, the ego is flooded with over-stimulating thoughts and feelings and one experiences gross impairment in perception of external reality.  
 
To better understand this from the inside, let me quote a paragraph from a person living with the illness: 
 
"What does schizophrenia mean to me? It means fatigue and confusion, it means trying to separate every experience into the real and the unreal and not sometimes being aware of where the edges overlap. It means trying to think straight when there is a maze of experiences getting in the way, and when thoughts are continually being sucked out of your head so that you become embarrassed to speak at meetings. It means feeling sometimes that you are inside your head and visualising yourself walking over your brain, or watching another girl wearing your clothes and carrying out actions as you think them. It means knowing that you are continually "watched," that you can never succeed in life because the laws are all against you and knowing that your ultimate destruction is never far away." ( In H.R. Rollin, Coping with Schizophrenia, London: Burnett Books, 1980, p. 162.) 
 
"Insight" in the medical sense means the ability of the patient to recognize that he is ill. (I will use the masculine when referring to the client in order to simplify the text.) This implies recognizing and accepting that his mind has betrayed him. He cannot rely on his own mind to correctly perceive what he sees, hears, or thinks. He must accept that his perceptions and interpretations of events are different from what the majority of others accept as being reality. 
 
For many clients, this knowledge makes it difficult to think of the world as being benevolant, to think of life as having meaning. Such a severe breach of trust with the world shatters the assumptions one constructs in order to live in a coherent manner. Communication problems which are in themselves symptomatic of schizophrenia are exacerbated by the client's psychological response to this betrayal of one's own mind. I emphasize this aspect of breach of trust and poor communication because of its important role in rehabilitation. Music therapy plays a major role in the therapeutic process of improving communication with oneself, the world, and in issues of trust.  
 
 
2. Long-term developmental issues 
 
Now, to step back and objectively analyze the major developmental challenges which must be met by persons living with schizophrenia. There is an immediate loss of independence, a loss of adult status. There are major problems with cognition, memory and concentration. Often, there is a loss of career or potential career, and sometimes, a loss of a mate or of a child. The loss of role entails a fall in social status, resulting in poor self-esteem, which, in some cases, becomes a shame-based view of one's self in the world and feelings of worthlessness. Long-term studies reflecting this are cited in a publication by the American Psychiatric Press. The authors state: "According to the long-term studies, the young adult afflicted with schizophrenia faces a decade of progressive loss of function or failure to achieve functions just when peers are experiencing their years of most rapid growth into adult roles. Failures at school, work, and in interpersonal relationships devastate self-esteem and sense of identity, contribute to a profound sense of alienation from family and friends, and undoubtedly account at least in part for the high rate of suicide among these people" (Committee on Psychopathology, 1992, p.15). 
 
As a response to intolerable feelings of confusion, anger, sadness, mistrust and frustration, the individual develops defenses as a coping mechanism. For some, this will take the form of self-imposed isolation. When information from the outside world is in conflict with one's own, it is a form of adaptive self-preservation to limit one's contact with it, thereby minimizing the painful reminder of one's disharmonious state. Withdrawal is a response to inadequate communication with the world.  
 
Poor communication with the unconscious self results in other defensive strategies, for example the construction of one's world using defenses of grandiosity or denial, living within a state of psychotic fantasy. Paranoia is a psychotic defense in which the feelings of rage and destruction that are too frightening to be consciously recognized are projected onto the outside world and reexperienced as fear of that world. Somatization is another defense in which intolerable feelings are taken on by the body. This is common in the psychotic state where the body is often perceived as dissociated parts which have been tampered with or which belong to outside forces.  
 
There is little literature dealing with the subject of reconciliation to the wounded self and adaptation to the altered ego functions after the onset of schizophrenia. However, grief theories partially shed light on this process. After stabilization of the illness, the first step in rehabilitation is grieving the loss of the future that the client had imagined before the onset of the illness.  
 
Recent models of mourning reject the stage theory of adaptation to loss as being too neat and simplistic. Psychological growth tends to move backwards and forwards, to combine various "stages" at one and the same time. This is congruent with personality theory which sees the individual as having many different personalities or parts.  
 
Robert Neimeyer is a grief theorist who proposes a constructivist approach which takes as its fundamental assumption that "grieving is the act of affirming or reconstructing a personal world of meaning that has been challenged by the loss" (p.170). Neimeyer uses the idea of narrative as a way of understanding the process of constructing meaning. He suggests we consider life as being a story. Loss can be viewed as a disruption of the continuity of the narrative, forcing the author to make plot changes(p.171). Neimeyer, along with White and Epston, authors of "Narrative Means to Therapeutic Ends" (1990, N.Y.: Norton), propose the use of expressive therapies to work through the long-term effects of loss and to integrate these losses into our lives. This reconstruction of a personal world of meaning within the limitations imposed by the disease is the greatest task faced by our clients. Again, entering into communication with the self and others is essential to any reconstruction of a meaningful world.  
 
Some clues as to how this might be achieved are provided by David Read Johnson in his article entitled "On the Therapeutic Action of the Creative Arts Therapies: the Psychodynamic Model" (The Arts in Psychotherapy, Vol. 25, No. 2, pp. 85-99, 1998). Johnson, too, sees the role of mourning and reparation as essential elements in the process of healing. Through engaging with others in roles and actions that represent the good that was lost (and the good that remains, I would add), the client achieves a measure of solace. "The freed Self is now available for reparation in which the objects that were lost can be rediscovered in new objects and activities" (p.97). 
 
To summarize: the lost parts of the self affected by schizophrenia are ego functions such as: self-image, self-esteem, cognition, role, relationships (object relations), affect, defense formation, sense of reality and synthetic integration (perception, concentration, thinking and judgement). In conjunction with the process of mourning is work of reconstruction of a relationship with oneself and with the world. (See diagram 2.) 
 
 
3. How can musical improvisation be used to aid in the process of rediscovery and reconstruction, two developmental challenges faced by persons living with schizophrenia? 
 
We have seen from a phenomenological point of view, that the effects of schizophrenia may be perceived as a rupture of trust in one's own mental capacities and a rupture in one's relationship with the world. It follows that the major work I undertake in therapy is to reestablish trust in one's own psyche and in one's relationship with the world through the establishment and development of a satisfying dialogue with oneself and with the world. The manifestation of this work will be evident by the client's ability to mourn losses and to discover the possibility of one's potential. This requires the creation of a space where the individual is able to recognize his /her identity, challenge limiting beliefs about oneself and build confidence. (See diagram 3.) 
 
The medium which is necessary to the creation of this space is communication, but the nature of schizophrenia is such that it creates mental confusion, making it difficult to communicate internally and externally. Cognitive abilities are reduced; there is a marked decrease in the ability to consciously recognize and process feelings. Yet, in using and interpreting sound symbols in therapeutic improvisation, unformed energy from the unconscious and preconscious regions can be accessed, thereby increasing the capacity for internal and external communication.  
 
To examine how symbol-making in the creative therapeutic space functions, I will refer to a psycho-analytic interpretation, specifically drawing upon Susan K. Deri's theories of symbol-making as presented in her book Symbolization and Creativity , International Universities Press, 1984 
 
Deri offers a definition of the word "symbol" as follows: 
"For the ancient Greeks, the sword symbolon denoted a broken ring or coin. Half of it was kept by the host and the other half handed to the departing friend, so that their descendants would know they had met a friend if the two broken halves matched exactly to form a whole. More specifically, the Greek word. symballein means to unite, to connect, to bring separate parts together. And this is the function of symbols wherever and in whatever form they appear. Symbols arise from the wish to bridge over to something or somebody in another realm; to reach what is directly unreachable. Symbols point beyond themselves and furnish apprehension of another region beyond the one where the symbol itself is located. Symbols in any form convey a sense of transcendence...They grow out of faith and hope. 
 
Symbol formation always takes place in the context of longing. The symbol provides a means of connecting separated regions, of crossing over boundaries; a symbol binds different categories together, making for unity." (p.46-7).  
 
Symbolization works in two basic ways: 
 
1.Centripetal direction: From the outside to the inside as in perception and in memory-image formation. This direction has implications in group improvisation. 
 
2. Centrifugal direction: from the deepest internal region of the unconscious (id) to pre-conscious and conscious regions (ego). This energy achieves symbolic expression in the outside world. This is the process utilized in improvisation when one makes a sound.  
 
From its genesis as unformed urges in the unconscious, the psychic energy moves through layers of ever-increasing definition in the preconscious to take on concrete and symbolic expression in the world through conscious thought or activity. The act of symbolization can be described as an act which transforms chaos into order.  
 
This theory of symbol-making has some interesting aspects when applied to the problems faced by an individual living with schizophrenia. For a person with schizophrenia in a stable, non-psychotic state, the boundaries within the psyche are rigid defense formations. There is a fear of the return of the boundary-less state experienced in florid phases of psychosis. Thought blocking and poverty of thought are some of the symptoms of rigid boundaries (known as negative symptoms). Relationships with others, too, tend to be superficial and formulaic. The loss of motivation and interest experienced by many may have its origin in the loss of desire, a loss of the ability to create good images (symbols) of objects and their associated feelings. It is not uncommon for some individuals to remain consciously or unconsciously fixated on objects that were once desired, objects that now belong to a different time in another life before the illness. This anachronistic fixation may result in the client's experience of being frozen in time.  
 
Emotions, intentions, wishes, thoughts and images which are manifested in ego functions become confused and chaotic with the reduction in movement of energy from unconscious to preconscious and conscious thought. This is evidenced in the lack of imaginitive ideas, often the lack of dreams, and a reduced awareness of many feelings which cannot break through topographic barriers. Symptoms of poor internal communication are evident in somotization, obsessiveness and perseveration of thought. These symptoms are often observed in the manner of playing instruments. 
 
The internal process brought into play when one improvises on an instrument serves to increase internal (centrifugal) communication by selectively articulating some features of the raw energy in the unconscious. The gesture and the sound cut out a form from the unbound energy as it moves across the boundary from unconscious to preconscious to conscious. It moves through the layers of the preconscious to take the form of a sound-image in the external world, and is consciously perceived when the sounder hears her sound. The accumulation of sounds which form patterns suggest other patterns found in memory and in the imagination; these are sometimes accompanied by strong emotion. Verbal interpretation by client and therapist of these symbols and their associations result in more definition as sound symbols yield to meaning. Centrifugal communication attains clarity and in so doing, allows greater access to one's feelings, unformed urges and desires, increasing one's sense of self. As Deri states, "the unbound passions of the id are bound into 'tamed,' usable intentions, affects, aim-directed wishes, thoughts, and images." (p.77). 
 
In this model, it is evident that creative arts therapies have a unique role to play, since the process of transforming unbound energy to bound energy can more easily be expressed in the non-verbal symbols of our mediums. As such, the energy attains a distinctive shape and becomes more readily accessible even while residing in the unconscious and in the lower preconscious region. The work of bringing the sound or visual or movement-symbol to a highly-formed conscious expression may be achieved through further non-verbal work or through verbal processing. Greater awareness and insight is gained, and the symbol with its attendant associations is added to one's internal vocabulary in the preconscious in a more readily accessible form. Greater access to the preconscious symbols translates into a "better-connected and more articulated ... lifespace." (Deri, p.78) 
 
Let's examine now how this process of listening and communicating works in group space. We can refer to the gestalt idea of figure-ground to understand what happens when we make sounds together. As we play with others, our ear moves back and forth between our own sound and the blending of that sound with the other, or a number of individual others. Our own sound corresponds to the figure and the other corresponds to the ground. While engaged in playing, we practise moving between these boundaries while at the same time we practise moving some of our unbound raw energy up through progressively clearer-defined regions of the preconscious to achieve expression through the physical act of producing a sound. While some of the features of the energy are articulated, there will be other features that were not selected but have become more available.  
 
We have read about the parallel between infant/caretaker dialogue and the musical dialogue in therapeutic improvisation. I suggest that the group takes on the representative role of not only the mother, but of the other, the world. Within the group, the individual may project and offer parts of the self. Given the difficulties that people with schizophrenia have with their relationship with the world, the group offers fertile ground to work on these problems.  
 
Let's turn now to some video examples of improvisations in groups with a commentary by Hélène Century. 
 
(End of part I by Lillian Eyre) 
 
 
Part II: Hélène Century, music therapy student 
 
Les personnes qui viennent sont atteintes de schizophrénie, leur confiance en eux, en leur perception de l'environement à tous les niveaux, et en le monde, est brisée. On observe des troubles identitaires et un sentiment d'angoisse de base.  
La communication intra et interpersonnelle est altérée. 
 
Exemple #1 : Gloria 
On voit Gloria jouer des Toca-blocs selon son shéma habituel. 
 
La communication musicale offre un espace « sécuritaire », à la fois très structurée (il faut des sons, des séquences, des rôles....) et très souple (si chaque son est interprètable, il n'a pas pour autant une signification précise et définie). Chaque son est différenciable, identifiable parmi les autres. 
Parmi les nombreuses techniques possibles en musicothérapie l'improvisation collective m'interesse le plus. 
Chacun peut choisir un ou plusieurs instruments, sa voix, changer etc...  
Quand on se trouve devant un instrument inconnu avec « Vas-y joue, exprime-toi ! », improviser n'est pas facile, voire générateur d'angoisse. 
 
Pour faire des improvisations collectives, il faut offrir à la fois une structure et un processus, ce que montrent ces 3 moments de différentes improvisations, d'une même séance, en ordre chronologique.  
- quand il n'y a pas de structure, le chaos interieur ne permet pas l'expression et le résultat lui-même n'est pas chaotique mais vide.  
 
Exemple #2 : Processus d'improvisation : sans strucure 
- une consigne est donnée, chacun rentre à son tour, et un ordre d'entrée est déterminé. Le résultat est chatique, perçu comme tel et on recherche comment améliorer la situation. 
 
Exemple #3 : Processus d'improvisation : avec une consigne et verbalisation déplorant le chaos 
- 3e impro, on change l'ordre d'entrée et on ajoute la nécessité que le premier propose un rythme clair. (Noter le changement chez Gloria) 
 
Exemple #4 : Processus d'improvisation :avec la même consigne et une autre  
 
- La consigne est de suivre Michel. Cette impro a été filmée la semaine suivante. On note l'évolution de la qualité de l'écoute, l'énergie, la participation ... et le son. Il y a maintien des acquis d'une semaine sur l'autre. 
 
Exemple #5 : Processus d'improvisation : avec la consigne de suivre une personne. 
 
Les verbalisations font percevoir comment la conscience se fait petit à petit. On n'aurait jamais pu faire la 4e sans les expériences préalables qui ont montré qu'il fallait écouter l'autre, quoi et comment écouter et quoi et comment donner quelque chose à écouter. 
 
Ce processus apparent ici pour le groupe sur une séance de une heure, peut se voir aussi sur une personne en quelques minutes. A la suite d'une série d'improvisations où il fallait successivement choisir une couleur, l'associer avec quelque chose, puis choisir en groupe une émotion, y associer un geste, et enfin mettre le tout ensemble, Jeanne avait choisi la couleur noire, associé avec la mort, le groupe avait choisi la colère et chacun faisait un geste l'exprimant à sa manière. 
 
Elle va droit à l'essentiel (sa peur de la mort), exprime sa colère, puis dans la verbalisation atteint la tristesse qui est derrière, se sent soulagée et est ensuite capable de vivre de manière plus détendue le reste de la séance. 
 
Il faut donc proposer des structures, mais combien et quel type. 
Un exemple le thème.  
- Si je demande dites-moi un mot, vous avez beau en connaitre beaucoup, vous allez hésiter.  
- Si je dis, pensez à la couleur rouge et dites moi un mot qui vous vient. Non seulement des choses viennent, mais cela donne un sentiment de plaisir. Penser des choses différentes, penser la même chose qu'une autre personne. La plupart se sentent validés, leur identités se dessinent en « comme » et « différent » de manière non-menaçante, sans parler des renseignements précieux que le thérapeute peut tirer de ce genre d'association.  
- Si je dis pensez à quelque chose de jaune, petit et léger, bien qu'il y ait des tas de choses possibles (un canari, un jaune d'oeuf, une mirabelle...) il y a trop de contraintes, c'est angoissant de nouveau. Et dès que les directives deviennent complexes, les processus mentaux nécessaires pour les assimiler bloquent l'accès à l'inconscient. 
Pas de structures ou trop de structures c'est angoissant. 
La structure doit être très claire. (voir exemple #1) s'il y a des confusions ou des doutes l'improvisation est vide. 
Il y a aussi un danger pervers. Quand la structure est très claire et donc comprise du premier coup, ils ont tellement peu confiance en eux-mêmes qu'ils pensent n'avoir pas compris ou ça reste très « concret », sans associations. Il faut garder un équilible « clear enough, vague enough ». Cela permet aussi à la personne qui ne veut pas faire ce qu'on demande de ne pas le faire sans avoir l'air de refuser tant qu'elle n'est pas prête à assumer cette responsabilité. 
 
Les structures peuvent être de plusieurs ordres : 
Thématique : Instrumental Actif-processus Musical Elles touchent à des niveaux de communication variés. Par exemple si la consigne est : on rentre l'un après l'autre, dans l'ordre du cercle. Il faut faire attention à son voisin et écouter/regarder ce qu'il fait pour savoir quand on doit jouer, donc prendre conscience de l'autre et aussi tenir compte de ce qu'il fait. 
 
Le chaos 
On a vu (exemple #2) un chaos intérieur se traduire en une musique vide. personne n'a été en contact avec soi-même, et toute verbalisation est inutile car elle ne peut être entendue à ce moment-là. Mais il peut y avoir un chaos musical complet, si les choses sont claires intérieurement, il est bien vécu  
Le son est épouvantable, mais les consignes sont claires, les gens rient et verbalisent en parlant de « libération » et « concentration » et sont capables d'un regard sur eux-mêmes. Ce n'était pas le résultat d'un désinvestissement personnel. 
Ici on voit Heather taper n'importe comment sur ses instruments. Le son d'ensemble est assez chaotique. Dans la verbalisation, elle dit « too revealing... » « Honesty was iminent », et parle de manière très projective, puisqu'elle exprime sa peur en utilisant « they ». 
 
Exemple # 6 
Heather joue hors rythme et verbalise sur sa peur de se dévoiler  
 
Autre sorte de chaos : Dans une improvisation vocale qui commence de manière bien organisée, Gloria chante avec les autres, se retire en entendant le résultat et revient lorsque celui-ci s'améliore. Ce qui est remarquable c'est que cela n'a pas été perçu comme chaotique, alors qu'ils n'ont pas su tenir leur voix (leur identité ?). Au contraire, ils se sont sentis bien dedans. (Aimé l'effort, la qualité du typre de travail : Vocal + mouvement ?) 
 
Exemple # 7 
improvisation vocale chaotique, les réactions de Gloria (sortir-rentrer) les verbalisations de Heather (trust).  
 
Ces chaos sont utilisables thérapeutiquement car on peut en parler. Le chaos insupportable est celui qui est vécu à l'interieur et se traduit exterieurement.  
 
Au fur et à mesure de la session, les structures se combinent.  
Les prénoms : on joue avec son prénom, puis on joue avec le prénom des autres, puis on joue avec tous les prénoms). Elles ne sont pas perçues comme excessives en arrivant progressivement. 
 
Tout en utilisant un materiel non menaçant on touche au coeur de la personnalité de chacun. Qu'y-a-t-il de plus personnel que son prénom ? Des choses apparaissent, des plus simples comme la joie de Gloria en entendant le groupe jouer avec son prénom et en faire quelque chose de joyeux et de drôle  
 
Exemple # 8 
Improvisation vocale sur le prénom Gloria, les réactions de l'interessée 
 
(à une autre session, une personne a eu l'impression qu'on se moquait d'elle) à certaines plus fondamentales (Jeanne et sa double identité). 
 
La musicothérapie va donc toucher des sentiments qui existent à l'état confus au niveau du préconscient, voire de l'inconscient. Il est important de passer du sentiment vague à la clarification progressive, en accord avec ce que chacun est capable d'entendre et d'accepter de lui-même. Cette verbalisation facilite le contact avec le pré-conscient, donc l'amélioration de la communication intra-personnelle, et donc une augmentation de la perception du sentiment de soi. Cela aide aussi la communication inter-personnelle, dans la mesure où le patient parle au thérapeute et au groupe.  
 
Ici intervient beaucoup le rôle des structures externes (lieu, moment, nombre de gens du groupe, heure...) et une résultante des structures externes et internes : la qualité de l'atmosphère du groupe. 
 
C'est un groupe extrèmement « supportif », même lorsqu'un individu est « en tort », (Gloria et son eternel jeu, Heather et son banging), nul n'est jamais accusé ou mis en cause directement, et s'il est en doute ou en peine il y a toujours quelqu'un pour dire quelque chose de gentil. 
 
La voix 
Dans la communication, le medium a un grand rôle et le choix de celui-ci est aussi signifiant que son utilisation. L'utilisation de la voix est à la fois très difficile (timidité) et un outil très puissant qui me touche et m'intéresse plus que tout. On utilise simultanément le sens précis et l'imprecis, le signifiant et le signifié mais surtout c'est un engagement complet, du coeur de l'âme et du corps, une sorte de mise à nu. 
 
Pour le dernier exemple, la « Férinade » du printemps, les consignes ont été constituées ensemble (improvisations préliminaires sur le printemps, pour se réveiller la voix ; puis choix des phrases et des groupes), chaque groupe devait chanter sa voix, entendre l'autre et entendre ce que je faisais par dessus. 
Cela suppose savoir se situer (faire ce qu'on a à faire), écouter les autres qui font pareil, écouter ceux qui font autrement sans se laisser avaler, se perdre ou le vivre comme un chaos, soit une communication inter et intrapersonnelle, en constant mouvement centripète et centrifuge. Noter la différence avec l'improvisation vocale de Février. Maintenant ils peuvent tenir leur voix. 
 
Exemple # 9 
La Férinade du printemps (pièce vocale du groupe) 
 
(End of part II)