Reading Some of the Classics
Last year, I spent about six months reading parts and portions of my music therapy textbooks. I tried to read something every night for about an hour, and I would take notes about my reading. Sometimes I would read books, sometimes songbooks, and sometimes things related to music therapy but not music therapy (do you know what I mean?). I started a new notebook in June 2013, but stopped my nightly reading. I think this is due to the increasing health issues that I had around then, but I also felt a need to talk to others about what I was reading. I got that opportunity, but still stopped reading.
Well, it is my summer break, so I am looking for things to do to fill up my days. So, I reached for the notebook and a text again.
I randomly go through my bookshelves, looking for something that strikes my fancy. Come to think of it, I have never included my journals in my reading - perhaps I should. Yesterday, I picked up Music Therapy in Principle and Practice by Donald E. Michel and Joseph Pinson. The text was written in 2005 and was published by Charles C Thomas Publishers, Ltd. It was a quick read that offered several ideas for teaching music therapy theory to visual learners (lots of diagrams that are just my way of thinking about difficult concepts).
Several things struck me about this text and the things that Michel and Pinson developed. First, they often presented differing perspectives to the same ideas. It was refreshing to see music therapists with different points of view respectfully agree to disagree about some of the things they believe about the power of music as a therapeutic medium. Second, they pointed out that some of our founders and original "experts" in music therapy were not able to define music therapy except through descriptions of "the profession in terms of its processes" (page 3). Third, they made a distinction between "therapeutic music" and music therapy. I like this distinction because it allows others to use music for therapeutic gain and benefit but that true music therapy must include the relationship between therapist, client, and music. (Check out pages 3-4 for more about this distinction.) Rae Sirott, a former student of Michel and Pinson, diagrammed the process involved in music therapy. She used a triangle to do so. I prefer to use overlapping circles in my diagrams, but the ideas are the same. Thank you, Ms. Sirott, for reinforcing my ideas about how music therapy actually occurs.
NOTE: I have probably written about my opinions concerning music therapy versus music for a therapeutic purpose on this blog. I'll check out my former posts and update this post if that is so...
After reading the first chapter and skimming through the rest, I landed in the last chapter of the book. Chapter 11, "Looking Back - Looking Ahead," offered several ideas and thoughts as we move forward in this profession. Michel's vision of the future stressed the "importance of the professional organization and how its policies could influence the future of the field" (p. 131). In light of a recent debate on the Music Therapists Unite group on Facebook, I find the comments from Dr. Michel to be especially relevant to me right now. It is important to continue to be a united front, especially as we are moving into an era of greater recognition from the public. Michel also emphasizes the need for us to "increase connections with advisors from medical and healthcare fields to gain further recognition in treatment guidelines (p. 132).
Pinson, on the other hand, seemed to find a different need for us as professionals - increasing FUNCTIONAL music skills (p. 134). This topic has been a recurring theme in the therapy circles I tend to hang out in - those involved with education and clinical training. We would always like students to have more experience playing instruments and using our tool to adapt and change our clients' behaviors.
My favorite line from the book was a quotation from an anonymous client.
Well, it is my summer break, so I am looking for things to do to fill up my days. So, I reached for the notebook and a text again.
I randomly go through my bookshelves, looking for something that strikes my fancy. Come to think of it, I have never included my journals in my reading - perhaps I should. Yesterday, I picked up Music Therapy in Principle and Practice by Donald E. Michel and Joseph Pinson. The text was written in 2005 and was published by Charles C Thomas Publishers, Ltd. It was a quick read that offered several ideas for teaching music therapy theory to visual learners (lots of diagrams that are just my way of thinking about difficult concepts).
Several things struck me about this text and the things that Michel and Pinson developed. First, they often presented differing perspectives to the same ideas. It was refreshing to see music therapists with different points of view respectfully agree to disagree about some of the things they believe about the power of music as a therapeutic medium. Second, they pointed out that some of our founders and original "experts" in music therapy were not able to define music therapy except through descriptions of "the profession in terms of its processes" (page 3). Third, they made a distinction between "therapeutic music" and music therapy. I like this distinction because it allows others to use music for therapeutic gain and benefit but that true music therapy must include the relationship between therapist, client, and music. (Check out pages 3-4 for more about this distinction.) Rae Sirott, a former student of Michel and Pinson, diagrammed the process involved in music therapy. She used a triangle to do so. I prefer to use overlapping circles in my diagrams, but the ideas are the same. Thank you, Ms. Sirott, for reinforcing my ideas about how music therapy actually occurs.
NOTE: I have probably written about my opinions concerning music therapy versus music for a therapeutic purpose on this blog. I'll check out my former posts and update this post if that is so...
After reading the first chapter and skimming through the rest, I landed in the last chapter of the book. Chapter 11, "Looking Back - Looking Ahead," offered several ideas and thoughts as we move forward in this profession. Michel's vision of the future stressed the "importance of the professional organization and how its policies could influence the future of the field" (p. 131). In light of a recent debate on the Music Therapists Unite group on Facebook, I find the comments from Dr. Michel to be especially relevant to me right now. It is important to continue to be a united front, especially as we are moving into an era of greater recognition from the public. Michel also emphasizes the need for us to "increase connections with advisors from medical and healthcare fields to gain further recognition in treatment guidelines (p. 132).
Pinson, on the other hand, seemed to find a different need for us as professionals - increasing FUNCTIONAL music skills (p. 134). This topic has been a recurring theme in the therapy circles I tend to hang out in - those involved with education and clinical training. We would always like students to have more experience playing instruments and using our tool to adapt and change our clients' behaviors.
My favorite line from the book was a quotation from an anonymous client.
"Music therapy is a kind of sneaky therapy."
(Page 136)
It is.
That is one of the many reasons that I love being a music therapist.
Michel, D. E., & Pinson, J. (2005). Music Therapy in Principle and Practice. Charles C Thomas Publisher, Ltd: Springfield, IL.
Michel, D. E., & Pinson, J. (2005). Music Therapy in Principle and Practice. Charles C Thomas Publisher, Ltd: Springfield, IL.
Comments
Post a Comment