Description

By (author) Aldridge David

Short /annotation:
In this interdisciplinary and wide-ranging volume, David Aldridge explores the power of music as a healing treatment for a broad spectrum of physical and mental conditions. Interweaving theory and practice, Aldridge demonstrates the many ways in which a culture of research may be developed in a practice setting to the benefit of all.

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In this interdisciplinary and wide-ranging volume, David Aldridge explores the power of music as a healing treatment for a broad spectrum of physical and mental conditions including AIDS, cancer, coma, senile dementia and autism.

This eye-opening book is valuable reading not only for music therapists but also creative arts therapists, occupational therapists, healthcare professionals, hospice workers and any other professional or student who works with chronically ill patients or the dying.

Interweaving theory and practice, Aldridge demonstrates the many ways in which a culture of research may be developed in a practice setting to the benefit of all. With case studies he illustrates the use of music therapy as an effective treatment in a range of medical settings. By providing an account of the development of a research programme, he also shows how research may be structured to describe and analyse the clinical benefits of music therapy.

Music Therapy Research and Practice in Medicine is a trenchant argument for the linking of music and medicine. Human beings, Aldridge demonstrates, are not mechanical but rather ”symphonic” beings, and for this reason music can be an immensely powerful and effective factor in rehabilitation and palliative care.

Table of contents:
1. Getting Started 2. Health as Performance 3. Communication and the Playing of Improvised Music 4. Music Therapy Research in the Medical Literature 5. Aesthetics and the Individual in the Practice of Research 6. Single Case Designs for the Creative Music Therapist 7. Shared Meanings 8. Music Therapy and Inflammatory Bowel Disease 9. Music Therapy with the Elderly 10. Hope, Meaning and Music Therapy in the Treatment of Life-Threatening Illness 11. Creative Music Therapy in the Treatment of Children with Developmental Delay 12. The Credible Practitioner in the Community of Inquiry. References. Index.

Review quote:
The book provides detailed documentation of medical and psychological literature relating to music therapy practice which will be a rich resource for the music therapy practitioner and researcher. Hopefully, it will inspire a whole body of carefully constructed research based in practice. It leaves me with the overall feeling of a highly skilled and sensitive observer looking at and working alongside another profession. David Aldridge avoids a polarisation into differing camps and eventual political debate fostering a climate of tolerance that he views as a mark of a mature profession.

Review quote:
[the] theme of integrating authenticity and communication is the core issue of the book … The chapter on single-case-study research designs is certainly recommended reading for any art therapist pursuing this style of research. Aldridge provides an exceptional overview of both quantitative and qualitative approaches to case study research, followed by an in-depth example of qualitative case study research. The method he uses exemplifies the goal stated at the beginning of the book – to tie research to clinical practice … Aldridge has written a very useful book for those in the fields of the arts therapies who are interested in pursuing research to better understand clinical work. His statement “we need an approach to music therapy research that stays close to the practice of the individual clinician” is one that I hope continues to drive future research in the creative arts therapies.

Review quote:
In this impressive book,