scholarly journals How Can Music Build Community? Insight from Theories and Practice of Community Music Therapy

2016 ◽  
Vol 16 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Megan Ellen Steele
Keyword(s):  
Music Therapy ◽  
Matrix Theory ◽  
Traditional Music ◽  
First Century ◽  
Initial Reaction ◽  
Community Resources ◽  
Community Music ◽  
Ethical Practice ◽  
Music Therapists ◽  
Current Application

Community music therapy has emerged as a widespread approach to music therapy practice since the beginning of the twenty-first century. This article outlines its development from an initial reaction against the individualistic consensus model of traditional music therapy practice, towards its current application across diverse, international contexts. Landmark publications and key terminology will be introduced, and the acronym PREPARE (participatory, resource-oriented, ecological, performative, activist, reflective, and ethics driven) (Stige & Aarø, 2011) used as a means of outlining key qualities of community music therapy. The nature of community music therapy as a context-driven and ethical practice that builds on individual and community resources through collaborative musicking will be illustrated through examples from the literature. The emerging influence of matrix theory as a model for processes within community music therapy (Wood, 2016) and future implications for music therapists as they explore work that shifts between individual and social formats and aims are discussed.

scholarly journals Feminist Music Therapists in North America: Their Lives and Their Practices

2015 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sandra L. Curtis
Keyword(s):  
North America ◽  
Music Therapy ◽  
Sex Discrimination ◽  
The United States ◽  
Survey Study ◽  
Final Report ◽  
Potential Contribution ◽  
Community Music ◽  
Music Therapists ◽  
The Impact

This survey study investigated the lives and practices of those in North America who self-identify as feminist music therapists. Earlier reports from this survey studied: 1) the experiences of music therapists, with a comparison of men, women, and their 1990 counterparts (Curtis, 2013d); 2) the experiences of music therapists who self-identify as community music therapists (Curtis, 2015); and 3) the experiences of music therapists in Canada as they compare with their U.S. counterparts (Curtis, in press, a). This current and final report explored the experiences of those in Canada and the United States who self-identify as feminist music therapists (50 from the 682 respondents). Areas of similarities and differences were noted between feminist music therapy respondents, Community Music Therapy respondents, and survey respondents as a whole. Similarities existed in terms of: age; gender (predominantly female) and ethnicity makeup (predominantly Caucasian); career satisfaction; and degree and nature of concerns in their lives. Differences existed in that: 1) greater numbers of feminist music therapy respondents worked in academic settings and had higher levels of education; 2) more feminist music therapists felt there was an impact of sex discrimination in peoples’ lives than did the community music therapists, or survey respondents as a whole (98%, 68.5%, and 67% respectively); 3) more feminist music therapy respondents held concerns about discrimination across many other intersections such as race/ethnicity and sexual orientation (98%, 74%, and 76% respectively); and 4) significantly more in Canada self-identified as feminist music therapists than did their U.S. counterparts. Qualitative analysis of respondents’ thoughts on feminist music therapy identified the following themes: being a feminist, belief and orientation, and working for empowerment and equality. The potential contribution that feminist music therapy offers the music therapy profession as a whole was highlighted in terms of its understanding of the impact of multiple sources of marginalization and privilege. This potential contribution could be enhanced through future research into the profiles of feminist music therapists living in other parts of the world.

scholarly journals Diversity and Community: Finding and Forming a South African Music Therapy

2006 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Helen Oosthuizen
Keyword(s):  
Music Therapy ◽  
South African ◽  
Therapy Group ◽  
Community Music ◽  
Work Experiences ◽  
African Music ◽  
Community Members ◽  
Music Therapists ◽  
Global Issues ◽  
Community Finding

How does music therapy engage diversity? My participation within three different South African communities offers possibilities, questions and thoughts to music therapists as we form our profession in this country and perhaps also globally. In a diverse, transient community, music is able to draw people together and may help to reconcile our many differences, but can also highlight the fragmentation of this community if all individuals and groups are not considered. As I introduce music therapy to an affluent school community, I find the cultural understandings I share with community members a helpful advantage, and yet I need to consider that by working only in wealthy, resourced communities similar to my own community, I may be highlighting the divide between wealth and poverty. In this way, I compound our countries' struggle with social inequality. As I initiate a short term music therapy group in a community very different to my own, I struggle with questions of whether music therapy has any relevance here, and find myself adapting my thinking, and working closely with the community to form a music therapy practice that has value in this context. These diverse work experiences challenge music therapists to increase our awareness of pertinent national and global issues and the possibilities our profession holds for addressing these issues. We need to explore new communities whilst continually reflecting and questioning all that we do and sharing our different work experiences with one another. Otherwise, whilst our work may hold much value within a particular community, we may find ourselves addressing or compounding national or global issues and may be growing or inhibiting our profession.

Community Music Therapy Partnering With Community Musicians

2019 ◽  
pp. 214-226
Author(s):  
Janelle S. Junkin
Keyword(s):  
Music Therapy ◽  
Final Section ◽  
Middle Eastern ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Community Music ◽  
Music Therapists

This chapter discusses the collaboration of community musicians and community music therapists working to create a community orchestral dialogues experience for youth patterned after a Middle Eastern model. The author explores the definitions of community musicians, music therapy and community music therapy, and how these definitions diverge and converge. The author explains and discusses Orchestral Dialogues: Accepting Self, Accepting Others and the learning that took place for the youth involved, as well as for the staff, both community musicians and community music therapists. The final section of the chapter provides lessons learned and implications for future collaborations for community musicians and community music therapists.

scholarly journals What Is the Role of A Student Music Therapist in a Community Music Setting?

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Sidharth Pagad
Keyword(s):  
Music Therapy ◽  
Secondary Analysis ◽  
Community Music ◽  
Social Equality ◽  
Music Therapists ◽  
Music Therapist ◽  
Reflective Journal ◽  
Group Behaviour ◽  
Audio Recordings

<p>This qualitative research project set out to explore my role as a student music therapist within a community music setting. I am a student music therapist, working with a community music company involved in a variety of community music groups and projects. I wanted to understand what I might offer the community music company by bringing a community music therapy perspective to the work.  The research involved an exploration into the literature relating to Community Music Therapy as well as Community Music and required me to regularly question the reasoning and philosophy behind Community Music Work. To answer my question I engaged in secondary analysis of data generated during the first 24 weeks at this community music placement. The data included session notes, audio recordings of supervision sessions, and my reflective journal.  The literature includes examples of collaboration between community music therapists and community musicians, and I sought to experience this at my placement. The hoped for collaboration did take place during the period of data collection, enabling detailed reflections of it. This exploration therefore helped me to develop as a community musician and music therapy student.  The practice was broad and involved regular transitions in role, often within the same session. These included participant, accompanist, song-leader, community music therapist, and drum circle facilitator. Findings suggest that Community Music and Community Music Therapy are disciplines with many similarities in appearance and structure, but tend to diverge when looking at goals and overall objectives and foci.  Social equality seems to be commonly shared value between Community Music and Community Music Therapy. The ways in which this value is acted upon is also explored.  Performance and Performativity as aspects of group behaviour was found to be mentioned in the literature, and again this was mentioned in the data collected as part of the researcher’s placement.</p>

scholarly journals The Art of Re-Framing

2015 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ana Navarro Wagner
Keyword(s):  
Music Therapy ◽  
Cultural Sensitivity ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Community Music ◽  
Music Therapists ◽  
Disadvantaged Children

This article exposes a way of re-framing the experiences of four European music therapists with local disadvantaged children in Gulu (North of Uganda, Africa) from a Community Music Therapy point of view. CoMT offers certain qualities that help to rethink conventional bounderies in their contexts and to widen the cultural sensitivity of the music therapists. The power of re-framing according to the context is the power of looking with other frames, the power of allowing other patterns to arise.

scholarly journals What Is the Role of A Student Music Therapist in a Community Music Setting?

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Sidharth Pagad
Keyword(s):  
Music Therapy ◽  
Secondary Analysis ◽  
Community Music ◽  
Social Equality ◽  
Music Therapists ◽  
Music Therapist ◽  
Reflective Journal ◽  
Group Behaviour ◽  
Audio Recordings

<p>This qualitative research project set out to explore my role as a student music therapist within a community music setting. I am a student music therapist, working with a community music company involved in a variety of community music groups and projects. I wanted to understand what I might offer the community music company by bringing a community music therapy perspective to the work.  The research involved an exploration into the literature relating to Community Music Therapy as well as Community Music and required me to regularly question the reasoning and philosophy behind Community Music Work. To answer my question I engaged in secondary analysis of data generated during the first 24 weeks at this community music placement. The data included session notes, audio recordings of supervision sessions, and my reflective journal.  The literature includes examples of collaboration between community music therapists and community musicians, and I sought to experience this at my placement. The hoped for collaboration did take place during the period of data collection, enabling detailed reflections of it. This exploration therefore helped me to develop as a community musician and music therapy student.  The practice was broad and involved regular transitions in role, often within the same session. These included participant, accompanist, song-leader, community music therapist, and drum circle facilitator. Findings suggest that Community Music and Community Music Therapy are disciplines with many similarities in appearance and structure, but tend to diverge when looking at goals and overall objectives and foci.  Social equality seems to be commonly shared value between Community Music and Community Music Therapy. The ways in which this value is acted upon is also explored.  Performance and Performativity as aspects of group behaviour was found to be mentioned in the literature, and again this was mentioned in the data collected as part of the researcher’s placement.</p>

scholarly journals What Is the Experience of a Community Musician Who Is Also a Music Therapist?

2004 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Lucy O'Grady
Keyword(s):  
Music Therapy ◽  
Community Music ◽  
Thought Processes ◽  
Community Settings ◽  
Search For Meaning ◽  
Music Therapists ◽  
Music Therapist ◽  
Women In Prison ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Depth Interviews

he notion of "community music therapy" has received much attention in recent years, provoking a variety of thought processes as to its definition and all that it encompasses. Amidst the "polyphony of voices" (Stige, 2003), the relationship between music and music therapy in community settings has been a point of discussion . I have decided to explore this issue through semi-structured in-depth interviews with both musicians and music therapists working in community settings within Australia. As this is a qualitative study, it is important for me to examine my own biases and to set them aside. One way to do this was to have my supervisor, Dr Katrina McFerran, interview me about my own work as a community musician with women in prison, questioning me about aims, methods, outcomes, roles and relationships with participants. In addition to helping me "bracket" my biases, it was a great way for me to put myself in the shoes of prospective research participants and re-learn that it can be hard to articulate oneself when under pressure, that a certain head-space is preferable in interviews, and that having someone to listen to my reflections can actually help me move forward in my own search for meaning. Transcribing the interview was also an interesting experience, as I was able to rethink my thinking. Now, the transcript is an interesting relic of what I once thought I thought! And yet it still highlights some interesting aspects of the research topic.

Challenging the Profession

2008 ◽  
Vol 22 (2) ◽  
pp. 65-72 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alison Barrington
Keyword(s):  
Music Therapy ◽  
Recent Literature ◽  
The Political ◽  
Community Music ◽  
Music Therapists ◽  
Clinical Issues ◽  
Political Implications ◽  
The Uk

This article explores some of the issues raised in recent literature about the manner in which music therapy has been developing. It focuses on the professional rather than the clinical issues that surround its development and explores concerns about and criticisms of the manner in which the profession in the UK has sought to develop. Thus it focuses on the political implications of the professionalisation of music therapy in the UK. Many of the issues have arisen as a result of the evolution of Community Music Therapy, challenging music therapists regardless of the clinical approaches employed. This article considers whether the profession's self-promotional activities are compatible with a client-centred1 approach, concluding that this is indeed the case.

Environmental Music in a Hospital Setting: Considerations of Music Therapists and Performing Musicians

2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 71
Author(s):  
Jing Wen Zhang ◽  
Mary A Doherty ◽  
John Francis Mahoney
Keyword(s):  
Music Therapy ◽  
Hospital Setting ◽  
Hospital Environment ◽  
Community Music ◽  
Emotional States ◽  
Urban Hospital ◽  
Music Therapists ◽  
Live Music ◽  
Public Areas ◽  
Sound Environment

 Abstract Background: This qualitative study explores the considerations of music therapists and musicians who provide environmental music therapy (EMT) and environmental music (EM) in hospital settings. EMT is an approach within the field of music therapy, utilized by trained, certified professionals who apply live music to address the physical, psychological, and cultural needs of patients, caregivers, and staff in the hospital environment. EM is defined as live music performed by musicians in public areas of hospitals typically on a volunteer basis. Both models might appear to be similar in actual presentation. However, the underlying differences warrant discussion.Objective: This study explores the similarities and differences between musicians and music therapists’ experiences of playing music within the sound environment of hospitals, and the unique considerations and impact their music conditions may have upon patients, and caregivers.Method: Interviews were conducted with 6 musicians providing EM and 5 music therapists providing EMT. Data were analyzed using a modified grounded theory approach.Results: Results suggest that music therapists and musicians consider their contributions to be beneficial to the hospital environment and to the emotional states of individuals, as well. Findings indicate that music therapists’ considerations are more goal-directed. Of the 11 participants- 5 were music therapists from urban hospital settings and 6 were performing musicians who were involved with community music programs. All of the interviewees expressed unique understanding of music’s value in medical settings, which can often be associated with anxiety and stress. Discussion includes considerations for collaborations between music therapists and musicians in the hospital setting inclusive of administrative understanding of the essential differences between music therapists and musicians. Keywords: music and medicine, music and health, environmental music,                     Environmental music therapy, community music, attunement,                       deep listening.                                                                                                                  multilingual abstract | mmd.iammonline.com

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