The Oxford Handbook of Music Therapy

Abstract

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 first Oxford 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.