The Theoretical Basis for Developing a Musical Composition for the Regulation of an Individual’s Psycho-Emotional States

Abstract

The article presents an integration of psychological and musicological concepts that formed the basis for developing a narrative-based music therapy cycle inspired by Joseph Campbell’s monomyth, The Hero’s Journey. Against the background of current trends in music therapy, the study highlights a notable lack of structured, coherent programs that employ narrative principles. The relevance of such an approach is linked to the growing emotional exhaustion, feelings of helplessness, and diminished self-confidence among people in Ukraine, as well as the limited accessibility of individual psychotherapy — factors that intensify the need for widely available, technologically accessible self-regulation tools. The proposed cycle combines music as a familiar and accessible medium for emotional influence, methods of active imagination, elements of katathymic-imaginative therapy integrated into verbal instructions, and the archetypal structure of the Hero’s Journey. The stimulus material is oriented toward a gentle, non-directive influence: music and narrative work together to contain emotional experience and gradually shift the listener’s affective state. The article further outlines the technical principles of creating the music–narrative cycle using modern digital technologies, the organisation of voice guidance, and the function of silence as an existential pause within the experiential process. The material is presented as a programmed audio cycle consisting of eight sequential verbal–musical fragments (total duration: 29 minutes), each corresponding to a specific stage of the symbolic hero’s path — from entering the imaginative space, clarifying the request, and identifying resources to the climactic overcoming of internal resistance, the experience of transformation, and the return to renewed everyday life. The article details the selection of tonalities, tempi, textures, timbres, and algorithmic noise patterns, as well as approaches to designing verbal instructions that support a sense of safety, facilitate imagination, and encourage emotional containment and reflection. Preliminary effectiveness is demonstrated through a pilot study (n = 86), which showed increases in positive emotions and self-esteem, along with reductions in anxiety and acute depressive experiences after a single listening session (Klimusheva, Yanovskaya, Tetska, Turenko, 2025). The article concludes by outlining potential applications of the developed music therapy tool in individual and group work, online formats, educational and preventative programs, and by identifying directions for future empirical research on narrative receptive music therapy in the Ukrainian context.