Voices ResourcesA website for the worldwide community around the journal Voices: A World Forum for Music Therapy

One of the major influences on the development of music therapy students' understanding of music therapy practice is provided through the music therapy literature. Educators therefore have a significant responsibility in shaping students' perspectives of music therapy when choosing reading assignments.

At the University of Melbourne, the music therapy subjects fall into three major streams:

• Music therapy theoretical subjects
• Music therapy methods subjects, and
• Clinical practice subjects.

In each of these streams different readings must be assigned.

In the music therapy theory subjects (Music Therapy for Child Clients, Music Therapy for Adult Clients, Music Psychology and Music Therapy in Medical Settings), the reading is chosen to provide the students with information about various disorders and disabilities, and the various music therapy approaches taken in treatment. I draw on the comprehensive texts, particularly A Comprehensive Guide to Music Therapy (2002) written by Wigram, Pedersen and Bonde, and An Introduction to Music Therapy: Theory and Practice (1999) written by Davis, Gfeller and Thaut, to give the students a basic understanding of the aetiology and symptoms of disorders, and the pertinent music therapy literature. Deciding which literature to suggest students read however, is increasingly difficult as more and more literature appears through Journal articles from around the world, chapters in books, and other material available on the web. Each time I draw up a list of recommended reading I am very conscious that what I suggest influences the way that my students learn about music therapy. Therefore I try to adopt an eclectic approach by drawing on research findings and perspectives from different models of practice, from different parts of the world. Apart from the recommended reading for each topic I also try to provide a comprehensive listing of available literature on each topic. However this may amount to several pages and I know it is impossible for students to read all of that literature during the course, because they have requirements for other studies and their clinical practice placements to fulfil as well.

At the University of Melbourne we have four music therapy methods (MTM) subjects, which cover:

• MTM 1 - the voice, vocal improvisation, song writing and singing,
• MTM 2 - dyadic (one-to-one) improvisation
• MTM 3 - group improvisation
• MTM 4 - receptive music therapy.

In these subjects we draw on literature specific to the method, again drawing on the international literature. Here we differentiate the similarities in practice as well as those aspects that are indigenous to the particular music therapy method being studied. In these subjects we draw on the skills of the teaching staff to demonstrate to students how they plan, implement and evaluate or analyse each method, and this requires further reading on assessment and evaluation tools.

In the Clinical Training subjects, students are placed in four different clinical placements. Each placement spans 12 weeks, and they write a clinical report on either an individual case study or a group project. The literature for the clinical reports will often incorporate literature drawn from medical, nursing, and allied health professions. Students must complete their own searches of databases in order to compile a literature review, and in assessing the clinical reports, we assess the student's ability to provide a balanced perspective, and that they have demonstrated a knowledge of the most recent developments in the clinical area. As more and more databases become available on-line, the searches obviously become more and more complex. In addition there are valuable systematic reviews and meta-analyses that help students gain an overarching perspective on what conclusions can be drawn from a large bank of related literature.

Three aspects stand out to me about the impact of literature in educating music therapy students:

1. That the literature is highly influential. Students as they develop an understanding of the complexities and ambiguities in music therapy practice are influenced by what authors say.
2. What we include on the reading lists, and what we exclude from the reading lists, have an impact on the way in which students conceptualise the profession of music therapy and how they practice it.
3. That students need to be taught how to objectively appraise the literature, by being able to distinguish between literature based on theory and practice, and literature that describes one author's opinion.

As educators, I believe we have a responsibility to our students to provide a well-balanced view of the profession. But we also have responsibility for providing them with a solid basis on which they can enter the field and practice effectively in it. No doubt some music therapy courses focus only on literature pertinent to one particular model of practice. Here the students learn one approach in depth, supported by a literature that enforces the values on that particular approach. Likewise music therapy courses in particular parts of the world inevitably focus on the literature of a particular country, written in the language of that culture. The challenge as a music therapy educator is to be aware of how I chose literature for the education of students, and for me, my choice is to be eclectic - to incorporate a range of styles and methods that enable a music therapy graduate to be adaptable and flexible in their approach to clinical work. And I wonder how other educators decide on the literature for their courses?

How to cite this page

Grocke, Denise (2003) The Influence of Recommended Music Therapy Literature in the Education of Music Therapists. Voices Resources. Retrieved January 09, 2015, from http://testvoices.uib.no/community/?q=fortnightly-columns/2003-influence-recommended-music-therapy-literature-education-music-therapists