Published: Mon 2nd July
ISSN 1359-4575

This Journal is available to purchase

Journal Articles:
Editorial
What's in a word? (p3 - p8)
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A language touches when, in the course of conveying thoughts, it also reaches the feelings, as well as the accompanying sensations and bodily manifestations. (Quinodoz 2003:193)
Obituary
Clive Robbins, 1927-2011 (p8 - 15)
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Clive Robbins died on Wednesday 7 December 2011 aged 84, after a long illness. He was a co-founder of the Nordoff-Robins approach to music therapy, which he developed with the American musician Paul Nordoff (1909-77). Clive was a music therapy pioneer and we mark his contribution to the profession via responses from some of the many people whose lives he touched. We particularly thank the Nordoff Robbins organisation for their assistance and generosity in making the material that now follows available for publication.
Essay
"Dare we speak of love?" An Exploration of Love Within the Therapeutic Relationship (p16 - 23)
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This essay explores concepts of love within the therapeutic relationship. Much has been written about the client's love for the therapist, but relatively little from the perspective of the therapist's love for the client. This article seeks to consider why this may be so, and then to offer a case study to illustrate how love did develop between myself, as therapist, and one of my clients, whom I shall call Suzie, to preserve her anonymity. The case study highlights how our therapeutic relationship developed and the conclusions I drew when the therapy ended. Keywords: love, agape, therapeutic relationship, client, therapist
Articles
The Use of Performances in Music Therapy Practice in Australia: A Qualitative Study (p24 - 38)
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The inclusion of performance as a part of the music therapy process is gaining increasing prominence in the literature. Although community music therapy discourse provides a theoretical explanation for the inclusion of performances, better understandings of the practical motivations underlying clinicians' use of performance are needed. Drawing on the responses of 18 Australian music therapists to an emailed questionnaire, this qualitative investigation solicited descriptions of how and why performances were included in their practices and what potential therapeutic outcomes and pitfalls have been experienced. Questionnaire responses were analysed using open coding - an inducative process that facilitates the identification of key ideas from within a data set. Analysis revealed a set of interweaving considerations that let the participating music therapists to use performance, and these were framed into a decision-making tree by the authors. A commitment to the needs of each individual client within performances was identified and this is discussed in light of community music therapy theory. Further investigations of the use of performance in music therapy are needed to better understand the implications of this practice.
The Role of Music Therapy for Anxious Adolescent School Refusers: The Importance of Identity (p39 - p52)
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The specific role of music therapy for anxious adolescent school refusers is considered with particular emphasis upon identity and the self. Literature in examined covering areas of education theory, school refusal, psychoanalytically informed thinking, and music therapy. Two case studies with adolescents receiving music therapy at a large general hospital are discussed, and these illustrate new ways of thinking about music therapy and school refusal. The parallel processes between the student music therapist and her adolescent clients are discussed. Concepts of identity and paradox are explored, concluding that these multi-layered paradoxes can be experienced musically. They often manifest as a constantly changing balance between moments of chaos and calm, risk and safety, exploration and retreat. The case studies describe in-depth work where resistance and anxiety are addressed within the musical improvisations between therapist and adolescents in individual therapy. The authors point to the gap in knowledge in this specific field and build on previous work, linking theoretical thinking to casework. Keywords: adolescence, identity, school refusal, student music therapist
Book Reviews
Adolescents, Music and Music Therapy: Methods and Techniques for Clinicians, Educators and Students, Katrina McFerran, with foreward by Tony Wigram (p53)
Where Music Helps: Community Music Therapy in Action and Reflection, Brynjulf Stige, Gary Ansdell, Cochavit Elefant and Mercedes Pavlicevic (p56)
Music Therapy Education and Training: From Theory to Practice, Karen D Goodman (p58)
Journal Watch (p65)
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