Synthesis Sunday: The Rest of Music, Therapy, and Early Childhood: A Developmental Approach

It's always a bit difficult to finish a synthesis textbook - I am torn between the accomplishment of being finished and the lost feelings that come when I need to find a new book to read. I have to say that, of all the texts that I have read over the years, this one, Music, Therapy, and Early Childhood: A Developmental Approach, by Elizabeth Schwartz, is the most relevant and appropriate for my music therapy clinical practice. I like it when the ideas in any book are easy for me to include in my daily work, and this is that sort of book.

So far, we've been through the developmental stages of music involvement, and the information that I've gleaned is a very good reminder of how humans engage in music making. I have been able to assimilate what happens in early childhood in contrast to what my children and adolescents do - some are musically appropriate - others demonstrate the impact of interrupted brain development. All of it works with my particular population and clinical setting in a way that supports my personal philosophy of music therapy.

The remainder of the book, chapters 12-17, includes discussions about many of the things that we don't spend lots time thinking about in general. Finishing up the book means reviewing topics that I don't usually think too much about during my day-to-day interaction with my clients. Things like the impact of diagnosis (chapter 12) and how to look for engagement in music (chapter 13). The last portion of the book, Part III, Practice Particulars, goes a bit more into how to do our jobs when working with persons with developmental interruptions or delays. How we create a developmentally appropriate environment (chapter 14), how we view the child - as pieces or as a whole (chapter 15), some tips to use when trying to interact (chapter 16), and a list of programs for kids in the early developmental stage of life (chapter 17).

I am not going to talk more about these chapters because I encourage everyone who works with persons with developmental disabilities to read this text and make clinical transfers into your own population and clinical situation. I know, that for me, I think that this text, more than most, applies to how I approach my clients during music therapy sessions. While the information does need some interpretation and adaptation to work with the 16 year old, most of it applies, especially the developmental level designations and theory. 

I am going to keep synthesizing all of the thoughts that are going around in my head about how this theoretical framework works with persons who are significantly beyond the early childhood developmental stage, but we are now at the end of this text.

Happy reading and synthesizing!



Schwartz, E. (2008). Music, therapy, and early childhood: A developmental approach. Gilsum, NH: Barcelona Publishers.