Music therapy for Hong Kong lesbian women : in coping with minority stress

Abstract

Lesbian women in Hong Kong have been overlooked in research examining minority stress and microaggression. Nevertheless, given the combined influence of traditional Chinese philosophies, gender identity, and sexual identity on the subgroup, their minority stress results in multiple health issues. In response, this thesis posits that understanding how those stressors intersect can provide unique insight into the minority stress of lesbian women in Hong Kong.

In the research for the thesis, Study 1 elucidated the sexual identity and minority stress of lesbian women in Hong Kong based on a music-based focus group interview with 14 lesbian women by elaborating on their selected songs. Six key themes emerged that highlighted their complex social dynamics: progress and setbacks in societal attitude toward the LGBTQ+ community, self-perception, value as lesbian women, the complexities of interdependence and (co)dependence, stress from the sexual taxonomy system, and challenges in romantic relationships.

Next, Study 2 examined the co-creative development of music therapy between lesbian women and their therapist by adopting Meyer’s minority stress model as a coping and social mechanism. Six lesbian women engaged in music therapy involving music autobiography, lyrics substitution, composition, and performance, and the findings elaborated on the six themes from Study 1. They also illuminated the dynamics of the oppressor and the oppressed in the experiences of lesbian women in Hong Kong.

Last, Study 3 evaluated the collaborative music therapy developed in Study 2 and addressed its impact on the minority stress of lesbian women in Hong Kong. In the same music activities used in Study 2, 11 lesbian women reflected on their experiences with coping with minority stress through music and music therapy. The five emerging themes were that music and music therapy fostered the participants’ sense of courage and emancipation, mutual support, control, empowerment, and mobilization.

All three studies followed a qualitative research design involving interpretative phenomenological analysis method. Whereas Studies 1 and 2 analyzed verbal communication and self-elaboration on minority stress using qualitative methods, Study 3 additionally analyzed descriptive quantitative data from questionnaires to evaluate changes in internalized homophobia and self-compassion during therapy.

Among the results, minority stress was interrelated with microaggression, distal stressors, proximal stressors, and general stressors among lesbian women in Hong Kong, all of which afford a new understanding of the matrix of minority stress. Music’s capacity to show humanity and change in well-being emerged in all studies, thereby validating its use in clinical and non-clinical settings. Furthermore, the concepts of yin and yang permeated minority stress and coping tactics across all studies and can thus guide the development of a “balancing music therapy model”.

Altogether, the thesis adopts the cultural perspectives of lesbian women in Hong Kong to comprehend their minority stress and subsequently presents the first music therapy intervention and model for coping with their minority stress according to their capacity for therapy and personal wishes. The findings from three studies confirm that music therapy can support lesbian women in Hong Kong in coping with minority stress.