Bonny, Helen
Dates
- Existence: 1921 - May 25, 2010 - 2010-05-25
Biography
Helen Lindquist Bonny (1921-2010) was born to Ethel and G. Elmer E. and married Oscar E. Bonny on August 17, 1943. She had three children with Oscar: Beatrice, Erich, and Francis. Bonny studied violin with Karl Kuersteiner, as well as studied at the Interlochen Music Camp and Oberlin Conservatory. Later, she studied Music Therapy with E. Thayer Gaston at the University of Kansas. Bonny then began working with patients at the Maryland Psychiatric Research Center in Baltimore as a music therapist and research fellow, which led to her PhD studies at Union Graduate School at Yellowstone. In 1964, she was a registered music therapist and developed Guided Imagery and Music (GIM) in the early 1970’s. Bonny also founded The Institute for Consciousness and the Music Therapy program at The Catholic University of America in Washington, DC, where she served as an assistant professor and Director of Music Therapy from 1975 to 1980. The Bonny Foundation was formed in the late 1980’s in order to help support those in GIM. On May 25, 2010, Bonny passed away at the age of 89.
Found in 1 Collection or Record:
Collection on Belle Hancoff
This collection documents Belle Hancoff’s two LSD sessions guided by Walter Pahnke along with the help of Helen Bonny, as well as Pahnke’s discussion of Belle Hancoff’s battle with cancer in a letter to Lewis Hancoff. Stephen Hancoff discusses his mother’s illness in a response to Alexander Zaitchik’s article "lashback! Psychedelic Research Returns," and he also mentions his relationship to William Richards and Stanislav Grof.