scholarly journals Representing People in Music Therapy Research and Practice: A Balancing Act

Author(s):  
Rebecca Fairchild ◽  
Jennifer Bibb

The process of representing people in academic writing and discussion is paradoxical. Drawing on our experiences of research in areas of child welfare and adult mental health, we consider whether the predominantly problem-focused language often used to describe and represent people in music therapy research and practice is congruent with the strengths-based way in which music therapists work. This article describes a "call to action" for music therapists to reflect on the language we use to represent the people we work and research with. We argue the need for a better balance in representing people in music therapy case studies, presentations and articles, by focusing on their strengths and resilience along with their challenges.

2019 ◽  
Vol 38 (1) ◽  
pp. 80-88
Author(s):  
Katrina Skewes McFerran

Abstract Music therapists have been working with, writing about, and researching their work with adolescents for many decades. This paper provides a reflective review of the research literature in the field that is categorized in three contexts: education, mental health, and community. Grouping knowledge in this way affords a new perspective on how music therapists describe adolescents, including the terms we use to describe them, the types of programs we offer, the approaches to research that are most popular, and the way we talk about the focus of therapy. Distinctions between research in these fields are highlighted, with reference to the beliefs and values that are most congruent with each of these contexts. Following this reflective review on the literature, I provide five recommendations for consideration by researchers and practitioners. These include: determining if and when evidence is an appropriate focus; continuing to seek understanding; not underestimating the value of positive experiences; avoiding an exclusive focus on the music therapist’s perspective; and being realistic about the outcomes of group versus individual therapy. The paper concludes with an illustrative example to emphasize how one adolescent might be “seen” differently in each context.


2002 ◽  
Vol 16 (2) ◽  
pp. 67-70

Diana Asbridge has been APMT Administrator for the past 16 years, and plans to retire in the autumn of 2003. Here she looks back on those years, remembering how the Association has grown from a small group of music therapists struggling to achieve recognition for their profession to its present-day strongly established role working for music therapists. Mary Simmons works freelance within music therapy with both the young and the elderly, with special interest in acute mental health. She is a past APMT Chair, at the time overseeing state registration and the advent of CPD. She is currently Vice-Chair of the BSMT and a member of APMT's Advisory Council.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Sarah Leigh Hoskyns

<p>This PhD research explored perceptions about the integration of research and practice in the Masters’ training of music therapists. Using constructivist case study methodology, the study analysed viewpoints of international educators, researchers and students about how research could helpfully be integrated into the practical and conceptual learning of music therapy trainees. The synthesis of research and practice in the professional music therapy field has regularly been advocated but recent studies and reviews suggest there is significant need for development of pedagogical theory and guidance for educators and students in the interface between placements and university-based learning in key areas, including research. Participants included a purposeful sample of 19 music therapy practitioners, researchers, educators and students in the wider international profession of music therapy and at music therapy training programmes in Europe and Australasia. Data sources included focus groups of professionals, two site visits to training programmes (comprising interviews, observations, field notes and concluding improvisation session) and a researcher reflective journal. Core themes identified in the thematic analysis concentrated on cherishing students’ fire and curiosity; facilitating the acknowledgement and management of change; and helping students embrace complexity in their music therapy education. Evidence from this study indicates that moving beyond ‘research competency’ and the development of individual academic skills towards collaborative, engaged learning with peers and supervisors, has potential to nurture sustainable, practice-based researchers of the future. Devising integrative strategies for learning and assessment, undertaken in diverse ways and to suit varied contexts for training, was perceived to be inspiring for students and educators and rehearsed significant professional tasks. These strategies - despite tensions experienced in their development - had potential to deepen personal learning, develop creative and critical skills that characterise graduate attributes of University Masters’ courses, and prepare graduates for evidence-based practice in health and education workplaces. An integrative model for a more holistic approach to learning, combining individual and collaborative approaches and using opportunities inside and outside the programme was developed, allowing for differences in culture and approach of the institutions which host music therapy training. The challenges and solutions explored in this research, while being particular to this qualitative music therapy study, have potential relevance to other applied areas of professional practice and research, such as arts therapies, allied health disciplines, education and nursing.</p>


Music is acknowledged as an arts medium with a universal and timeless potential to influence our behavior and emotions. As international research about the effects of music on well-being expands it is timely to consolidate and report the gains in the profession of music therapy through this firstOxford Handbook of Music Therapy. With a foreword by Professor Colwyn Trevarthen (Emeritus, University of Edinburgh) this handbook provides an overview of some populations who are served in music therapy, with information about the contexts in which practitioners work. These include mental health services, hospitals, education programmes, and rehabilitation services. The people who come to music therapy either through self-referrals or by referral from a practitioner or service are described in detail by practitioner researchers most of whom are qualified at doctoral level. A range of chapters from internationally recognized experts has resulted in a substantial multidisciplinary, and pluralistic account of recent advances and applications in music therapy. The handbook presents an overview of many of the models and approaches that have developed in the field since its inception. Many of these chapters were written by the founders of the methods. Multiple perspectives to practice are honored in this text, with music therapy predominantly described as a relational therapeutic practice throughout.


Author(s):  
Nichola Tyler ◽  
Theresa A. Gannon

The current study aimed to investigate the specific pathways in the offence process for mentally disordered firesetters. In a previous study, an offence chain model was constructed (i.e., the Firesetting Offence Chain for Mentally Disordered Offenders, FOC-MD) using offence descriptions obtained from 23 mentally disordered firesetters, detailing the sequence of contextual, behavioural, affective, and cognitive factors that precipitate an incidence of firesetting for this population. The current study examines the prevalence of the specific pathways to firesetting for the original 23 mentally disordered firesetters and a further sample of 13 mentally disordered firesetters. Three distinct pathways to firesetting are identified within the FOC-MD: fire interest–childhood mental health, no fire interest–adult mental health, fire interest–adult mental health. In this article, we describe these three pathways in detail using illustrative case studies. The practice implications of these identified pathways are also discussed.


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