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The author Elena Mundici describes the psychological transformation process facilitated by the music experience from the perspective of forensic psychotherapy. Special focus is placed on the connection between music and violence, i.e., the unconscious meaning of creativity and destruction as innate dynamic elements of music. Mundici draws a parallel between acts of violence and music performance in terms of its execution, which requires “a synergy of physical, mental and affective functions, and an interaction of conscious and unconscious forces” (p. 1).
The author emphasizes structural and formal music language as transformational space for the split aspects of the offender's psyche to establish connections, thus starting the integration process. Bearing in mind the forensic framework and the fact that the author's client committed a major offence (murder), the article provides an important insight into the dynamics of split-off complexes and the transformational power of music. Although the author does not make any conclusions of a Jungian nature (she is a forensic psychotherapist), her work is especially useful for Jungian professionals in terms of analyzing the nature and dynamics of complexes. Particular benefits include developing deeper understandings of music phenomena, using music in analytic work and deepening the research of meta-analysis of libidinal and music flow.