scholarly journals The great reveal: The experiences of a Registered Music Therapist with a disability: an arts-based research project

2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Zoe Kalenderidis
Keyword(s):  
Music Therapy ◽  
Lived Experience ◽  
Lived Experiences ◽  
Music Therapists ◽  
Arts Based Research ◽  
Music Therapist ◽  
Diverse Workforce ◽  
Intersecting Identities ◽  
Global Population ◽  
Accessible Format

Disability is a human phenomenon experienced not by a small minority but a large percentage of our global population.  Disability is encountered by people of all ethnicities, religions, genders (and non-conforming), sexualities, socio-economic backgrounds, and ages.  Recent music therapy literature has advocated for a diverse workforce and others describe the value in music therapists adopting an intersectional lens, which considers the interconnectedness of social and political identities. However, there is limited dialogue featuring lived experiences of music therapists of underrepresented identities, such as disability.  This research sought to canvass the experiences of Australian Registered Music Therapists who identify as having a disability and to explore how their disability may impact or inform their practice.  One Australian Registered Music Therapist (RMT) who identified as disabled was interviewed.  The student-researcher engaged with arts-based research through music composition to allow an embodied analysis and to present results in an accessible format.  Several themes were revealed, including; hidden disability, disclosure of disability, alliance, positive transference, visibility, and identity.  These findings demonstrate the importance of lived experiences in the music therapy community and calls to amplify diverse voices of those with disabilities and other intersecting identities within our profession. Acknowledging the work of disabled music therapists may further challenge ableist attitudes in our society and provide options to participants who might prefer to work with therapists who have relevant lived experience.

scholarly journals Exit Music: The Experience of Music Therapy within Medical Assistance in Dying

Healthcare ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 331
Author(s):  
SarahRose Black ◽  
Lee Bartel ◽  
Gary Rodin
Keyword(s):  
Music Therapy ◽  
Lived Experience ◽  
Medical Assistance ◽  
Music Therapists ◽  
Music Therapist ◽  
Hermeneutic Phenomenological ◽  
Medical Assistance In Dying ◽  
Canadian Music

Since the 2015 Canadian legalization of medical assistance in dying (MAiD), many Canadian music therapists have become involved in the care of those requesting this procedure. This qualitative study, the first of its kind, examines the experience of music therapy within MAiD, exploring lived experience from three perspectives: the patient, their primary caregiver, and the music therapist/researcher. Overall thematic findings of a hermeneutic phenomenological analysis of ten MAiD cases demonstrate therapeutically beneficial outcomes in terms of quality of life, symptom management, and life review. Further research is merited to continue an exploration of the role of music therapy in the context of assisted dying.

scholarly journals Sounding the Authentic Self:

2019 ◽  
Vol 19 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Colin Andrew Lee
Keyword(s):  
Music Therapy ◽  
Lived Experience ◽  
Creative Process ◽  
Special Issue ◽  
Authentic Self ◽  
Music Therapist ◽  
Recording Session ◽  
Intersecting Identities

This piece is a queer autoethnographic cycle of words, poems, and improvisations that reflect my lived experience as a queer music therapist. The improvisations come from a two-day recording session held at the Maureen Forrester Hall, Wilfrid Laurier University, Canada. By expressing my identity as a queer music therapist, I came to understand with greater clarity the therapeutic-creative process that was central to my work with clients. The music offered as part of my contribution to this queering music therapy special issue acknowledges the courage and peace needed to embrace my intersecting identities as a composer–music-therapist and a queer cisgender man.

Music Therapy for Children and Adolescents Diagnosed with Cancer

2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
Philippa Reid
Keyword(s):  
Music Therapy ◽  
Children And Adolescents ◽  
Cancer Care ◽  
Research Evidence ◽  
Interdisciplinary Team ◽  
Subsequent Treatment ◽  
Music Therapists ◽  
Medical Treatments ◽  
Music Therapist

Receiving a cancer diagnosis and undergoing the subsequent treatment challenges coping and equilibrium for children and adolescents and their families. This chapter describes how music therapists work with children, adolescents, and family members in cancer care contexts. A range of musical experiences can provide adjunct support to medical treatments to support coping, reduce distress, and provide comfort. The music therapist works as a member of the interdisciplinary team to provide opportunities fornormaland fun musical experiences to support the experience of hospitalization, as well as offering comfort and support for children in pain or distress. Research evidence supports the role of the music therapist in providing effective services with children and adolescents in cancer care.

scholarly journals Book Review: Clinical Training Guide for the Student Music Therapist (2nd edition)

2018 ◽  
Vol 18 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Janelle Chambers
Keyword(s):  
Music Therapy ◽  
Clinical Training ◽  
Music Therapists ◽  
Music Therapist ◽  
Self Reflection ◽  
Goals And Objectives

Clinical Training Guide for the Student Music Therapist (2nd edition), written by Donna Polen, Carol Shultis, and Barbara Wheeler, is an updated resource book for student music therapists with various levels of training.  A multitude of resources, references, and personal and professional insights are organized into an easy-to-read layout and covers areas such as assessments, goals and objectives, documentation, planning and implementing music therapy experiences with groups and individuals, as well as encourages self-reflection and special considerations for the student music therapist and their supervisors.  This book is reviewed with a sociocultural lens.

scholarly journals The Development of a Music Therapy School Consultation Protocol for Students with High or Very High Special Education Needs

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Daphne Joan Rickson
Keyword(s):  
Special Education ◽  
Music Therapy ◽  
Research Approach ◽  
Personal Factors ◽  
Music Therapists ◽  
School Consultation ◽  
Team Members ◽  
Music Therapist ◽  
Special Education Needs ◽  
Education Needs

<p>Music therapy school consultation is positioned to become a significant practice for music therapists. Historically, music therapy work with children who have special education needs in New Zealand has focused on those who attend special schools or units and, according to the published literature, seems to have taken place in clinic settings or withdrawal rooms. The current emphasis on inclusive education demands that music therapists consider other ways of working. Further, a paucity of music therapists and the geographic isolation of many students who attend their local schools suggest that the large majority of students who would benefit are unable to access music therapy services. The aims of the current study therefore were for a music therapist to empower members of special education teams to use music experiences which had been especially planned to assist children to meet individual developmental or academic goals, and to describe how the process was perceived, understood, used, and valued by participants. A further aim was to develop and trial a protocol for music therapists undertaking consultation work. Eight registered music therapists interviewed in stage one of the study, to aid the development of the initial protocol, had differing views and attitudes about consultation, and findings confirmed the need to clearly define the practice. The initial protocol was therefore fragile, based on limited understandings from sparse music therapy consultation literature and the author's previous experience of working with team members in isolated areas. In stage two, four consecutive case studies enabled the protocol to be trialled in the field and, using an action research approach, to be developed further. Accumulated learning outcomes led to the development of a music therapy school consultation protocol based on social learning theory which emphasises the interdependent relationships between the consultant's (music therapist), consultees' (identified team members), and clients' (students) behaviour, their internal personal factors, and environmental factors. The establishment of collaborative relationships, and an ecological assessment which is based on the theory that human development is influenced by environmental systems (Bronfenbrenner, 1989), are critical components of the protocol. Thus the music therapist spends a full week at each student's school. Findings demonstrate that interacting with team members as they went about their daily lives led to deeper understanding of their needs and in turn enabled pragmatic, accessible, and meaningful music activities and strategies to be successfully implemented. A 'clinical' music therapy session remains an important part of the protocol, but findings suggest its primary significance is in highlighting students' strengths so that team members develop fresh understandings and increasingly positive views of students that enhance their mutual relationships. Team members became more motivated, energised, self reflective, and able to support as well as challenge their students' development. They were thus able to continue to use, develop and evaluate their use of music strategies, after the music therapist left the field. Music therapists are currently unprepared for the triadic relationships and the emphasis on adult empowerment that is fundamental to consultation. The findings therefore have significant implications for music therapy practice and training. These implications, including areas for future research, are discussed herein.</p>

scholarly journals Immigrant Children's Bodily Engagement in Accessing Their Lived Experiences of Immigration: Creating Poly-Media Descriptive Texts

2009 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Anna Kirova ◽  
Michael Emme
Keyword(s):  
Lived Experience ◽  
Lived Experiences ◽  
Immigrant Children ◽  
Lived Body ◽  
Arts Based Research ◽  
Phenomenological Inquiry ◽  
Visual Texts ◽  
New School ◽  
Conscious Level

In this paper, we explore the role of the lived body in meaningful understanding beyond linguistic conceptualization in phenomenologically oriented inquiries. In this exploration we consider the role of visuality (i.e., still photography) and enactment (i.e., tableau) as possibilities for accessing meaning beyond language-bound descriptions of the phenomenon of moving childhoods--that is, children's lived experiences of immigration. We suggest that immigration is an experience that interrupts the familiarity of the lifeworld, and thus brings immigrant children's awareness of their bodies to a conscious level. We ask: What methods of inquiry can be used to access more directly the "embodied understanding" and, in particular, the lifeworlds of immigrant children as they leave the familiar "home world" and enter the "alien world" of a new school? In addressing this question, we focus on one aspect of phenomenological inquiry--gathering experiential accounts, or lived experience descriptions, in investigating childhood phenomena--which presents a particular challenge to researchers working with young children. We present an example of a method that bridges hermeneutic phenomenology and arts-based research methodology (i.e., fotonovela) developed specifically to engage immigrant children bodily in accessing their lived experiences of their first day of school in the host country, and in the development of a polymedia text showing these experiences. We believe that the example demonstrates how fotonovela facilitates immigrant children’s recollection of and reflection on their experience of being at the door of a new classroom. Moreover, the production of visual texts, when shared with or read by others, has an evocative power similar to that of a phenomenological text. Thus, we argue, fotonovela is a particularly suitable method for engaging children in developing polymedia descriptive texts about their lived experiences.

scholarly journals Finding power and privilege as a violinist and music therapist

2010 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Naoko Matsumura McKee
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
Music Therapy ◽  
Interpersonal Skills ◽  
Personal History ◽  
Self Awareness ◽  
Music Therapists ◽  
Music Therapist ◽  
Self Reflection ◽  
Social Work Training ◽  
Work Training

Power and privilege is often addressed in social work literature and is taught as a part of social work training in Canada. The purpose of this training is to enhance self-awareness and interpersonal skills, and to promote the practice of critical self-reflection. Critical self-reflection not only includes one's examination of thoughts, feelings, and behaviors, but also one's understanding of how these are shaped by personal history, social location, attitudes, and values related to diversity and difference (Mandell, 2007). Not all practices in the field of social work can be directly applied to music therapy practice. However, critical self-reflection as introduced in social work may be adapted for music therapists in realizing their own power and privilege in their work. This paper applies theoretical and conceptual ideas of power and privilege in music-centered music therapy practice through the author's personal critical reflection. 

scholarly journals The Therapeutic Value of Recording in Music Therapy for Adult Clients in a Concurrent Disorders Inpatient Treatment Facility

2019 ◽  
Vol 19 (2) ◽  
pp. 21
Author(s):  
Kevin Kirkland ◽  
Shannon Nesbitt
Keyword(s):  
Music Therapy ◽  
Musical Composition ◽  
Music Therapists ◽  
Concurrent Disorders ◽  
Music Therapist ◽  
Case Examples ◽  
Therapeutic Goals ◽  
Therapeutic Value ◽  
Fertile Ground

While recording has traditionally been viewed as a practical, adjunctive role of the music therapist, here the authors examine the skillful use of recording devices and software as fertile ground for the development of therapeutic programs with tangible benefits for adult cli­ents in a concurrent disorders recovery setting. The integration and layering of musical composition with musical performance, digital technologies, and production, invite rich and engaging conversations about therapeutic goals, processes, and outcomes. Using methods of action research inquiry, the authors discuss how their interactions with clients through recording have yielded new insights into therapist roles and identities as well as expressions of music therapy. The case for therapy-oriented recording is outlined and a description of the authors’ research setting and data collection methods identified before a literature review on the use of recording in music therapy is provided. The authors then distinguish four types of therapeutic recording illustrated by case examples from work with clients. Their writing culminates with a discussion of challenges and benefits associated with therapeutic recording. The authors conclude that recording offers critical and rewarding yet often unrecognized opportunities for music therapists to be innovators in their field.

scholarly journals The Violin in Music Therapy: How do I use the violin in music therapy with people who have intellectual disabilities or neurological conditions?

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Lucy Kelly
Keyword(s):  
Music Therapy ◽  
Therapeutic Potential ◽  
Secondary Analysis ◽  
Music Therapists ◽  
Music Therapist ◽  
Clinical Notes ◽  
Research Journal ◽  
Performance Techniques ◽  
Neurological Conditions ◽  
Primary Instrument

<p>In this research I explored my use of the violin in music therapy with people who have intellectual disability and neurological conditions. I am interested in this topic because the violin is my primary instrument and I wanted to learn more about its therapeutic potential. My research methodology was Secondary Analysis of Qualitative Data, and the data were my clinical notes and research journal. Findings were generated through thematic analysis of the data. Five themes emerged. Specifically, I found that the violin’s voice-like timbre was helpful in fostering connections and encouraging emotional and communicative expression. Similarly, the ability to physically share the instrument, and to play it while mobile, also fostered connections between me and my participants. Because of my expertise on the violin I was able to utilize a vast variety of performance techniques both with familiar music and within improvisations that elicited meaningful musical moments. My relationship with the violin has developed and changed throughout this process and the violin has become a part of my identity as a music therapist. I anticipate that findings will interest other music therapists, and perhaps encourage them to use alternative instruments within their practice.</p>

scholarly journals Neo-colonialism In Music Therapy: A Critical Interpretive Synthesis of the Literature Concerning Music Therapy Practice With Refugees

2016 ◽  
Vol 16 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Rachael Comte
Keyword(s):  
Music Therapy ◽  
Political Power ◽  
International Literature ◽  
Music Therapists ◽  
Music Therapist ◽  
Refugee Population ◽  
Homogenous Group ◽  
Universal Language ◽  
Healthcare Needs ◽  
Critical Interpretive Synthesis

This paper presents the findings from a critical interpretive synthesis that explored the assumptions influencing music therapists writing about their work with refugees. Music therapy literature suggests that the profession appears to be uniquely suited to address the healthcare needs of the refugee population by transcending cultural and language barriers which often mitigate access to other services. However, when working with individuals characterised by trauma and whose identities have been dictated by political power, it is essential that music therapy practices oppose these forces and provide opportunities for empowerment. Therefore, eleven papers describing music therapy practice with refugees from the international literature were examined and interrogated to determine the assumptions embedded within the language used by music therapists. The synthetic construct of a neo-colonial music therapist emerged from the data and informed subsequent analysis. The concepts of refugees as a homogenous group defined by a dominant narrative of trauma, and musical improvisation as a universal language appeared to be influential in the ways music therapists were reporting on their work. These findings are discussed along with considerations for a music therapy practice that promotes empowerment and advocates for the voices of the refugee population.

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