Music Centered Music Therapy

An ambitious and long-awaited text that sets out the basic practices and principles of approaches to music therapy that place music and music experience in a central role. The text provides a philosophical and practical rationale for music experience as a legitimate goal of clinical music therapy. An historical account is given of music-centered thinking in music therapy and the manifestation of this way of thinking in various contemporary music therapy models. The latter part of the book develops the specifics of a particular music-centered theory that is meant to be applicable across different domains of treatment. This book is essential for readers interested in the development of theory in music therapy, for music-centered practitioners who have been searching for a vocabulary and conceptual framework in which to articulate their clinical approach, and for anyone interested in the intrinsic value of music experience for human development.

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.

This book addresses the issues in music therapy that are central to understanding it in its scholarly dimensions, how it is evolving, and how it connects to related academic disciplines. It draws on a multi-disciplinary approach to look at the defining issues of music therapy as a scholarly discipline, rather than as an area of clinical practice. It is the single best resource for scholars interested in music therapy because it focuses on the areas that tend to be of greatest interest to them, such as issues of definition, theory, and the function of social context, but also does not assume detailed prior knowledge of the subject. Some of the topics discussed include defining the nature of music therapy, its relation to current and historical uses of music in human well-being, and considerations on what makes music therapy work. Contemporary thinking on the role of neurological theory, early interaction theory, and evolutionary considerations in music therapy theory are also reviewed. Within each of these areas, the author presents an overview of the development of thinking, discusses contrasting positions, and offers a personalized synthesis of the issue. The Study of Music Therapy is the only book in music therapy that gathers all the major issues currently debated in the field, providing a critical overview of the predominance of opinions on these issues.

In 1974, Paul Nordoff and Clive Robbins engaged in their final and most extensive teaching collaboration at a hospital in southeast London. The entire six-month course was audiotaped and the transcripts provide the source of this study which illuminates the foundations of this seminal approach to creative music therapy.

Becoming a Music-Centered Therapist is a hands-on practical book designed to help students and professionals integrate-or re-integrate-their identity as a musician with their career as a music therapist. Theory, context, and step-by-step exercises combine to encourage students and practitioners in examining their relationship to music, prompting thoughtful questions about how their musical identity can expand what's possible clinically, and deepening insight into how to spark this growth in the design of their treatment plans. The author crafts clinical scenarios and musical examples to guide readers in building dynamic treatment plans that combine music with the complex needs of the human beings with whom they work. The strategies and philosophy at the heart of Becoming a Music-Centered Therapist help the reader bridge the divide between humanistic understanding and evidence-based outcomes. Language and communication choices, as well as the practical application of goals, are explored in depth. Music therapy educators will find this book's clear-cut practical framework-juxtaposed against a backdrop that crosses multiple disciplines-will work well in treatment planning, methods, practicum, internship, and clinical musicing classes and can be used repeatedly during different stages of a student's training. For music therapy practitioners, Becoming a Music-Centered Therapist offers a refreshing opportunity to consider where their own musicianship resides in their practice. Humanism, positivity, and the art and science of music therapy are explored to infuse the music therapist's sessions with new life and renewed purpose.

The thesis put forward in this book is that a dialogical perspective as found in the work of Martin Buber can be used as a frame for conceptualizing music-centered music therapy--or rather, for music as therapy, which is the term used here. Some might claim there is no such thing as "music as therapy," and that the only real therapy is some already established mode of therapy in which music plays a subordinate part (i.e., "music in therapy). In this book, the attempt is to show a different picture, one which includes also the possibility of music as therapy, that is to say, therapy based on qualities of the medium itself. A particularly much-debated issue has been whether verbal processing is necessary for actual therapy to take place. This book presents and discusses some of the crucial issues involved, and develops a theory to bring out potentials of an experiential, transformative music therapy, in which verbal processing, talking cure style, is not necessarily incorporated. Examples are given of improvisational music therapy, community-oriented practices, and receptive, listening-based music therapy.