Thoughtful Thursday: Books That Have Influenced My Music Therapy Practice

I am trying to be a bit more intentional in my writing this week, so here is a topic that I hope you all will like - the books that have influenced my music therapy practice over the past "ahem" MANY years. Some of these books are music therapy texts, others are not. There have been many different books that have made me think a bit more about who I am and what I do with my clients. Here they are, in no particular order...

• Music In Therapy, edited by E. Thayer Gaston, published in 1968. You can find a copy at this link here. The influential part of this book, for me at least, Chapter Two, Processes in Music Therapy by William W. Sears. This was one of the first things that I really understood when I encountered it as an undergraduate, and it still has deep meaning for me. I am lucky enough to own a physical copy of this book, and I am meaning to reread this chapter. It reminds me that there is so much more that music does than just fill the brain with stimuli. I think I would have enjoyed lectures by Dr. Sears, but I also know some of the stories of who he and Gaston were in the classroom, so I am not sure if I would have been able to tolerate some of their behaviors - I am glad that it is a different time now.
• Sensory Integration and the Child, by A. Jean Ayres, published in the 25th year edition in 2005. This book opened my eyes to the concepts of sensory integration and had influence on how my internship was run and gave me quite a bit of insight into my own ways of experiencing the world. I think I have a physical copy of this one as well - I need to check my library. I know my mother has a copy of this if I don't. This is another one that I want to reread. I have not really been doing much sensory integration work lately, and I wonder if my current clients would benefit - I mean, I think they would, but I am not entirely sure how I could incorporate the techniques into my current space and clinical strictures.
• Defining Music Therapy, by Kenneth Bruscia, all three editions. You can find a link to this book here. This book was one that I read and reread when I was an undergraduate student, a graduate student, and as a mentor/supervisor. I am always confused about the "music in therapy" and "music as therapy" parts - I would have used the terms differently, but everyone else seems to understand. I like how Bruscia defines things, but I don't always agree with some of the ideas that he holds in these books. That's okay. I think disagreement is how we learn and grow. I respect his understanding of this profession, even through my disagreement with what he states as truth. I have all three editions, and I will purchase a fourth edition, if he writes another one!
• Music Therapy: A Fieldwork Primer, by Ronald Borczon. Again, I disagree with some of the things that Dr. Borczon recommends, but this book is what my practical, structure-craving heart yearns for when I am teaching others about how to do music therapy. This has all sorts of good recommendations on how to work with clients in a music therapy session, and I think all music therapy practicum students should be reading and using this book to help them figure out what to do in sessions! There you go.

There are more. There are many more books that have influenced me in my music therapy profession, but these are the ones that I go back to, time and time again.

What books are essential to your understanding and practice of music therapy? I am always interested in reading what others recommend. Comment below.