Cultural Intersections In Music Therapy

This is the first comprehensive textbook on multicultural dimensions of music therapy. The editors pass the literary microphone to the contributing authors - all music therapists who have found belonging and identity in diverse cultures. The authors examine how music therapy is relevant within an individual's cultural context through personal and scholarly explorations. The chapters are separated into three sections: 1) understanding oppression and bias; 2) minority cultures within North America; and 3) inclusive music therapy practice and education. This focused examination prompts the reader to listen to myriad voices and engage in cultural dialogues.

Music therapy professionals work with diverse population groups, and this book provides therapists, and those in training, with the tools to integrate understanding of different cultural and social identities into their practice. Topics addressed include heritage, age, location, identity and health beliefs, and how to understand the dynamics of the variety of different cultures which music therapists will encounter in the course of their practice. Each chapter is written by an expert on a topic of personal interest in music therapy, explored through a multicultural lens. The chapters include anecdotes, case studies, and practical activities to try, while encouraging the reader to reflect on their own identity as a music therapist. This book is essential reading for all music therapy professionals wanting to practice in a culturally-informed manner, and respect the needs, contributions and strengths of every client.

Toward a Sociology of Music Therapy: Musicking as a Cultural Immunogen addresses how music therapy may expand its theoretical foundation toward sociology in order to meet some of the major health challenges in contemporary societies. Building upon post-structural and posthumanist thinking, this book advocates a new understanding of the discipline of music therapy, as well as outlines major areas of practice that can extend music therapy services into public health.The concept of "music as a cultural immunogen" is illustrated through research interviews, field work, and cases taken from the media, demonstrating how various forms of "health musicking" help regulate emotions, build sustainable musical communities, and install meaning, hope, and a sense of existential "resonance" in life.Also discussed are issues from the sociology of profession as related to the identity of the music therapist. Other topics are ontologies of music, conceptions of health, holism and disability, as well as different ideological stances among leading pioneering music therapists in the previous century, like Christoph Schwabe, E. Th. Gaston, and Nordoff and Robbins.

An in-depth exploration of taking culture-inclusive perspectives for practice, theory, and research in music therapy. Part One outlines premises for the argument, examining basic concepts such as culture, humankind, meaning, "musicking," and the nature-nurture debate. Part Two highlights how culture-centered music therapy may be practiced. In Part Three, implications for describing and understanding music therapy are discussed, including a chapter on how to define music therapy as practice, discipline, and profession. A culture-inclusive model of the music therapy process is also proposed. Part Four suggests approaches to music therapy research within a culture-centered context.

An evocative series of essays designed to expand existing concepts of music therapy theory, practice, and research. The author provides an indepth examination of fundamental questions for our profession: What is health? Is music therapy a health profession or cultural movement? What concepts of music and man are indigenous to music therapy? How is music improvisation communicative? What is our science for the interpretation of musical meaning? What is the relation between music and emotions? How does music contribute to our individual and collective identity? The author brings his extensive experience in musicology, philosophy, and music therapy in formulating answers that will define our future.

Following an overview of different forms of feminism, and an introduction to feminism in music therapy, this book deals with the sociological implications of feminist worldviews of music therapy; examines clinical work from a feminist perspective; reflects on significant aspects of music therapy that relate to feminism; and focuses on specific areas of training in music therapy from a feminist perspective.

Music Therapy is making its way into the field of health sciences with evidence of its effectiveness in different disciplines. Chapter One presents considerations about social and cultural interactions that permeated the music therapy activities developed along an eight-year project hosted by a Brazilian university. Chapter Two covers a research study on the influence of 15-minute sessions of classic music therapy on physiological parameters of hospitalised premature newborns and discusses the use of music as a therapeutic tool for this population in neonatal care units. Chapter Three reviews and contrasts the results of scientific studies of music therapy made on the grounds of improving pain, physical wellness, anxiety, relaxation, mood and quality of life in cancer patients. In Chapter Four, the authors describe recent studies that have investigated the acute influence of musical auditory stimulus on autonomic heart rate control. Chapter Five considers the importance of including Music Therapy in rehabilitation programs for patients with Cerebrovascular accidents, and its potential to restore upper and lower limb movement. This book concludes with Chapter Six, a short communication that suggests an extension of the representational capabilities involved in the idea of the forms of vitality to a wider musical scope than the traditional one, which is mainly based on the parameters of rhythm, melody and harmony.