Whose handicap? Issues arising in the supervision of trainee music therapists in their first experience of working with adults with learning disabilities

In this chapter, I discuss some aspects of supervision of music therapy trainees undertaking clinical work for the first time with adults with learning disabilities. I attend to the backgrounds, musical and professional, from which students have come, their expectations of themselves and their work, and their initial assumptions and aspirations about music therapy with this client group. I also consider the anxieties aroused by both the overall training experience and by the experience of embarking for the first time upon clinical work. I suggest that clinical work with this population brings its own particular anxieties and associated defences, which must be addressed in supervision if the work is to move forward.