The Oxford Handbook of Music Therapy


Book Description

Music therapy is growing internationally to be one of the leading evidence-based psychosocial allied health professions to meet needs across the lifespan.The Oxford Handbook of Music Therapy is the most comprehensive text on this topic in its history. It presents exhaustive coverage of the topic from international leaders in the field.




Trauma-Informed Music Therapy


Book Description

Trauma-Informed Music Therapy is a timely volume that combines theoretical perspectives on trauma-informed practice with real-life applications in music therapy practice. Board-certified music therapists are in a unique position to provide comfort, create a sense of safety, and empower people to find their voice during and after traumatic experiences. In this book, the theory behind trauma-informed practice (TIP) is explored and expanded through stories of clinical implementation, social justice practices, and music therapy theories. Spanning topics such as grief and loss, adverse childhood experiences and their intergenerational effects, domestic abuse, urban trauma, polyvagal theory, and psychological first aid, this book addresses music therapy as the emerging therapeutic treatment modality for adults, children, and teenagers alike. This book will be of interest to practicing music therapists and music therapy students who are learning how to bring music therapy to victims and survivors of trauma.




Resonant Learning in Music Therapy


Book Description

Resonant learning allows students to develop and fine-tune their therapeutic competencies through first-hand experiences: being in client roles themselves, being in preliminary therapist roles with co-students in client roles and reflecting on those experiences. These resonant learning processes are preparatory steps in developing a professional music therapist identity through internship and later employment positions and continuing supervision. Outlining the Aalborg model of resonant learning, developed at Aalborg University, Denmark, Resonant Learning in Music Therapy discusses the benefits and drawbacks of 'tuning the therapist' and encourages its integration into music therapy courses around the world. The book sums up research on resonant learning and presents core exercises, directives and vignettes from the training processes of the Aalborg model. Explaining how students' self-agency is enhanced by long-term personal experiences in group- and individual therapy, observing work with clients in an institutional setting, working with clients themselves, and undergoing close group and individual supervision, the editors and contributors also explore the benefits of implementing resonant learning within other therapist training programs and healthcare professions.




Music, Music Therapy and Trauma


Book Description

Music communicates where words fail, and music therapy has been proven to connect with those who were thought to be unreachable, making it an ideal medium for working with those who have suffered psychological trauma. Music, Music Therapy and Trauma addresses the need for an exploration of current thinking on music and trauma. With chapters written by many of today's leading specialists in this area, music and trauma is approached from a wide range of perspectives, with contributions on the following: * neurology of trauma and music; * music and trauma in general; * social and cultural perspectives on trauma; * contextualising contemporary classical music and conflict; * music and trauma in areas where there is war, community unrest and violence (Northern Ireland, Bosnia-Herzegovina, South Africa); * music, trauma and early development. Including specific examples and case studies, this book addresses the growing interest in the effects of trauma and how music therapy can provide a way through this complex process.




Music Therapy in a Multicultural Context


Book Description

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.




Using Music in Child and Adolescent Psychotherapy


Book Description

There is growing evidence for the powerful role that music plays in enhancing children's cognitive, social, and emotional development. Written for a broad audience of mental health professionals, this is the first book to provide accessible ways of integrating music into clinical work with children and adolescents. Rich case vignettes show how to use singing, drumming, listening to music, and many other strategies to connect with hard-to-reach children, promote self-regulation, and create opportunities for change. The book offers detailed guidelines for addressing different clinical challenges, including attachment difficulties, trauma, and behavioral, emotional, and communication problems. Each chapter concludes with concrete recommendations for practice; an appendix presents a photographic inventory of recommended instruments.




Music Therapy in Mental Health for Illness Management and Recovery


Book Description

Many music therapists work in adult mental health settings after qualifying. This book is an essential guide to psychiatric music therapy, providing the necessary breadth and depth to inform readers of the psychotherapeutic research base and show how music therapy can effectively and efficiently function within clinical practice







The Theory and Practice of Vocal Psychotherapy


Book Description

The voice is the most powerful and widely used instrument in music therapy. This book demonstrates the enormous possibilities for personal change and growth using a new, voice-based model of psychotherapy where the sounds of the voice are expressed, listened to and interpreted in order to access unconscious aspects of the self and retrieve memories, images and feelings from the past. Combining theory with practice, the book explains the foundations of vocal psychotherapy and goes on to explore its usage in clinical practice and the various techniques involved. The book integrates important concepts from depth psychology such as regression, reenactment and working with transference and counter-transference with the practice of vocal music therapy. Drawing on over twenty years of research, the author uses case studies to illustrate specific vocal interventions, including improvisation techniques such as vocal holding, free associative singing and psychodramatic singing. Vocal Psychotherapy highlights the value of voice work as an integral part of the psychotherapeutic process and provides a model of advanced clinical work that will be essential reading for music and creative arts therapists.




Trauma and Expressive Arts Therapy


Book Description

"Psychological trauma can be a life-changing experience that affects multiple facets of health and well-being. The nature of trauma is to impact the mind and body in unpredictable and multidimensional ways. It can be a highly subjective that is difficult or even impossible to explain with words. It also can impact the body in highly individualized ways and result in complex symptoms that affect memory, social engagement, and quality of life. While many people overcome trauma with resilience and without long term effects, many do not. Trauma's impact often requires approaches that address the sensory-based experiences many survivors report. The expressive arts therapy-the purposeful application of art, music, dance/movement, dramatic enactment, creative writing and imaginative play-are largely non-verbal ways of self-expression of feelings and perceptions. More importantly, they are action-oriented and tap implicit, embodied experiences of trauma that can defy expression through verbal therapy or logic. Based on current evidence-based and emerging brain-body practices, there are eight key reasons for including expressive arts in trauma intervention, covered in this book: (1) letting the senses tell the story; (2) self-soothing mind and body; (3) engaging the body; (4) enhancing nonverbal communication; (5) recovering self-efficacy; (6) rescripting the trauma story; (7) making meaning; and (8) restoring aliveness"--