Receptive Methods in Music Therapy ─ Techniques and Clinical Applications for Music Therapy Clinicians, Educators and Students

Grocke (music therapy, U. of Melbourne, Australia) and Wigram (music therapy, U. of Aalborg, Denmark) provide a discussion of the use of receptive listening methods and techniques that clinicians, educators, and students can use in music therapy. The techniques and methods outlined are grounded in evidence-based practice and focus on those used by music therapists, with examples of case material. Methods include music relaxation for children and adults, imaginal listening, song and lyric discussion, song reminiscence, listening based on the client's preferred music, appreciation activities, music collage, and somatic and eurhythmic listening. Each method contains a description of what is involved, scripts, what skills need to be developed, sessions, procedures, and contraindications, as well as appropriate music selections, mostly from the Western classical tradition. Annotation c2007 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Denise Grocke is Associate Professor and Head of Music Therapy at the University of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. She directs the undergraduate and graduate programmes in music therapy and the Graduate Diploma in Guided Imagery and Music (Bonny Method), and is Director of the National Music Therapy Research Unit. She is co-editor of two books, and author of many chapters and articles on music therapy and Guided Imagery and Music. She is a former President of the World Federation of Music Therapy and a current member of the Advisory Board of the doctoral program in music therapy at the University of Aalborg, Denmark. Tony Wigram was Professor and Head of PhD Studies in Music Therapy at the University of Aalborg, Denmark, Honorary Research Fellow in the Faculty of Music at the University of Melbourne, Australia, and Reader in Music Therapy at Anglia Ruskin University, Cambridge, UK. He was Associate Editor of the Nordic Journal of Music Therapy, and a former President of both the European Music Therapy Confederation and the World Federation of Music Therapy. He was also Head Music Therapist at the Harper Children's Service in Hertfordshire, UK, and Research Advisor to Hertfordshire Partnership NHS Trust.