The Study of Music Therapy: Current Issues and Concepts

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.

Kenneth Aigen is an associate professor in music therapy at New York University. He is president of the Nordoff-Robbins Music Therapy (NRMT) Foundation and the International Trust for NRMT. He is a past-president of the American Association for Music Therapy and a recipient of the Research and Publications Award from the American Music Therapy Association.

1. The Identity of the Music Therapy Profession 2. The Identity of the Professional Music Therapist: Roles and Related Disciplines 3. Psychodynamic, Social, and Music-Centered Perspectives on Music 4. Musical Styles in Music Therapy: Culture, Identity, and the Nature of Change 5. The Medium of Music and Clinical Goals 6. The Relationship between Clinical and Nonclinical Music 7. The Role of Verbalization in Music Therapy. 8. The Client-Therapist Relationship in Music Therapy 9. Music Therapy and Traditional Healing Practices: Definitional Issues 10. Music Therapy and Traditional Healing Practices: Clinical Applications 11. Community Music Therapy: Origins and Definitional Issues 12. Perspectives on Performance in Community Music Therapy 13. Early Interaction Theory and Music Therapy 14. Neurological Science and Music Therapy 15. Evolutionary Theory and Music Therapy 16. An Overview of Current Music Therapy Frameworks 17. A Comparative Analysis of Current Music Therapy Frameworks