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“With the publication of the Music Therapy Handbook, the music therapy profession may be moving away from introductory-level textbooks and into more comprehensive texts that can serve a multiplicity of purposes in music therapy training and practice….This reviewer highly recommends the incorporation of the Music Therapy Handbook into current music therapy education, and predicts that it will become one of the foundational texts in music therapy training.”

—Journal of Music Therapy (on the first edition)


“This book is, without a doubt, a 'must' for any library as it is a vital resource for anyone interested in music therapy ….A rich and well-constructed book.”

—British Journal of Music Therapy (on the first edition)


“Lends itself well to use by students and professional music therapists, as well as non-music therapists with whom clinicians and researchers collaborate. Physicians, nurses, social workers, child life specialists, OTs and PTs, and other allied healthcare professionals may find the text particularly helpful….I highly recommend this book.”

—Music and Medicine (on the first edition)


“An excellent source for students and practitioners. Recommended. Upper-level undergraduates through researchers/faculty; professionals/practitioners.”

—Choice Reviews (on the first edition)


“The second edition of this gem of a handbook will be treasured by music therapists, instructors, and internship supervisors who want to take a deep dive into current topics and approaches in music therapy. The diversity of contributors, chapter topics, and settings and populations discussed is a highlight. The second edition emphasizes themes of diversity, equity, inclusion, accessibility, and cultural humility that often have been lacking in creative arts therapy resources. This handbook will be invaluable for entry-level music therapists looking to orient and root themselves culturally in fieldwork; it also contains unique insights for more advanced therapists.”

—Joanne Loewy, DA, LCAT, MT-BC, Professor, Icahn School of Medicine; Director, The Louis Armstrong Center for Music and Medicine, Mount Sinai Health System, New York City


“This truly comprehensive handbook expertly bridges theory, research, and practice in a dynamic field. Authored by accomplished music therapists from around the globe, the second edition presents an in-depth exploration of clinical practice while emphasizing the importance of human diversity. Chapters provide foundational knowledge as well as opportunities to delve into specialized aspects of the discipline. With its thorough coverage and accessibility, the volume is ideally suited for use in introductory to advanced music therapy courses. Integrating cultural, aesthetic, theoretical, and practical perspectives, the Handbook is an indispensable tool for anyone seeking to understand or advance the practice of music therapy today.”

—John A. Carpente, PhD, MT-BC, LCAT, Professor of Music Therapy and Founder and Director, The Rebecca Center for Music Therapy at Molloy University


“This second edition is a radical update that celebrates an expanded collective of authors, critical perspectives, and new ways of understanding what it means to be a music therapist. The insights and care offered by the editors and contributors sincerely convey their passion for the profession, while challenging music therapists to critically reflect on their practices and research. I look forward to sharing this handbook with my graduate students and personally engaging with the many prompts for discussion throughout the chapters.”

—Grace Thompson, PhD, Music Therapy Program, University of Melbourne, Australia


“With an expanded editorial team and diverse contributors, the second edition of this handbook brings increased critical and dialogical perspectives to foundational and contemporary issues in music therapy. Incorporating more diverse perspectives simultaneously reflects changes in music therapy and encourages further change in terms of addressing themes of culture, aesthetics, identity, and dominant values. Discussions of power dynamics, implicit bias, and issues of access emphasize the integral role of sociocultural self-reflexivity in ethical practice. Discussion prompts, questions to ponder, vignettes, and/or further resources in a number of the chapters increase the book’s pedagogical utility as a text for music therapy courses or a resource for clinical practitioners.”

—Susan Hadley, PhD, MT-BC, Director, Master of Music Therapy Program, Slippery Rock University

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Table of Contents

I. Foundational Overview

1. Overview of Music Therapy as a Profession, Nsamu Moonga & Natasha Thomas

2. Aesthetics in Music Therapy: Supporting the Creative Impulse to Flourish, Hakeem Leonard & Andeline dos Santos

3. Music Therapy and the Brain, Kimberly Sena Moore & Concetta Tomaino

4. Ethics in Music Therapy, Debbie Bates

5. Music Therapy Treatment Process, Amy Clarkson & Carol Lotter

6. Music Therapy Research, Anthony Meadows

II. Approaches to Practice

7. A Framework for Conceptually Locating Music Therapy Practice, Brian Abrams

8. Outcomes in Music Therapy Practice, Bill Matney & Eugenia Hernandez Ruiz

9. Experience-Oriented Approaches in Music Therapy, Suzannah Scott-Moncrieff & Alan Turry

10. Ecological Approaches to Music Therapy, Jasmine Edwards & Katrina Skewes McFerran

III. Music Therapy Practices

- Section A. Development, Identity, and Facets of Human Diversity

11. Music Therapy and Childhood Development, Kristen O’Grady & Amelia Oldfield

12. Music Therapy, Children, and Complex Trauma, CharCarol Fisher & Stephenie Sofield

13. Embracing Multiplicities: Reflections on After-Queer Practices, Maevon Gumble, Braedyn Inmon, & Kay Schachner

14. Music Therapy and Disability, Carolyn Shaw & Maren Metell

15. Music Therapy, Autism, and Neurodiversity, Ming Yuan Low & Daphne Rickson

16. Music Therapy, Healthy Aging, and Dementia, Hanne Mette Ridder & Indra Selvarajah

17. Music Therapy and Spirituality Development, Giorgos Tsiris, Noah Potvin, Faith Halverson-Ramos, & Hilary Moss

- Section B. Music Therapy and Mental Health

18. Music Therapy as a Resource for Mental Health, Peter Jampel & Tríona McCaffrey

19. Music Therapy and Substance Use Disorders, Kathleen M. Murphy & Laurien Hakvoort

20. Music Therapy and Trauma, Gene Ann Behrens & Brian T. Harris

21. Music Therapy, Stress, and Anxiety, Jennifer Sokira & Audrey Hausig

22. Music Therapy and Veterans and Military Members, Diane G. Langston & Sarah Pugliese

- Section C. Music Therapy and Ecological Practices

23. Music Therapy with Refugees: Crossing Borders, Alpha Woodward, Mackenzie Kay Conner, & Krzysztof Stachyra

24. Community Music Therapy with Violence-Affected Youth, Sunelle Fouché, Caley Garden, & Michael Viega

25. Music Therapy and Working with Court Systems, Helen Oosthuizen & Michael L. Zanders

26. Music Therapy and Family Systems Theory, Kathryn Eberle Cotter & Viggo Krüger

27. Environmental Music Therapy in Hospital Environments, Andrew Rossetti & Jingwen Zhang

- Section D. Music Therapy and Medical Practices

28. Music Therapy for Specific Medical Conditions, John Mondanaro & Debra Burns

29. Music Therapy for Rehabilitation of Acquired Neurological Conditions, Jeanette Tamplin & Jess Rushing

30. Music Therapy for Pain Management, Joy Allen & Lisa Gallagher

31. Music Therapy for Procedural Support, Annie Heiderscheit, Juan Pedro Zambonini, Karinne’ Andonian, & Jennifer Manno

32. Music Therapy in Intensive Care, Raymond Leone & Mark Ettenberger

33. Music Therapy at the End of Life, Amy Clements-Cortés & Clare O’Callaghan

Author Index

Subject Index

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About the Editors

Michael Viega, PhD, LCAT, MT-BC (he/him), is Associate Professor of Music Therapy at Montclair State University. He has published and presented internationally on a wide range of topics, such as adolescent development and music therapy, popular music cultures in music therapy, therapeutic songwriting and digital technology, and arts-based research methodologies. As a music therapy clinician, he has worked extensively with children and adolescents who have experienced childhood adversity and trauma. Dr. Viega is a Fellow of the Association for Music and Imagery.

Andeline dos Santos, DMus, MA (she/her), is Senior Lecturer in Music Therapy and Research Coordinator for the School of the Arts at the University of Pretoria, South Africa. She is a registered Music Therapist whose work focuses on adolescents and youth. Dr. dos Santos’s research interests include investigating empathy from within varying theoretical paradigms, and the implications for music therapy practice; the relationships between empathy and violence and empathy and spirituality; and creative and participatory research methods.

Barbara L. Wheeler, PhD, MT-BC (she/her), is Professor Emeritus at Montclair State University, where she taught from 1975 to 2000. She initiated the music therapy program at the University of Louisville in 2000, retiring in 2011. Dr. Wheeler presents and teaches in the United States and internationally and has been an active clinician throughout her career. She edited or coedited three editions of Music Therapy Research, edited the first edition of Music Therapy Handbook, and is coauthor of Clinical Training Guide for the Student Music Therapist. She has received Lifetime Achievement Awards from the World Federation of Music Therapy and the American Music Therapy Association.

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Contributors

Brian Abrams, PhD, LCAT, MT-BC, Cali School of Music, Montclair State University, Montclair, NJ

Joy Allen, PhD, MT-BC, Department of Music Therapy, Berklee College of Music, Boston, MA

Karinne’ Andonian, MA, MT-BC, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA

Debbie Bates, PhD, MT-BC, Arts and Medicine Department, Cleveland Clinic, Mayfield Heights, OH

Gene Ann Behrens, PhD, MT-BC, Professor of Music Emeritus, Elizabethtown College, Elizabethtown, PA

Debra S. Burns, PhD, MT-BC, College of Communication and Fine Arts, Rudi E. Scheidt School of Music, University of Memphis, Memphis, TN

Amy Clarkson, MMT, LCAT, MT-BC, TEP, College for Education and Engaged Learning, Montclair State University, Montclair, NJ

Amy Clements-Cortés, PhD, RP, MT-BC, MTA, Faculty of Music, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada

Mackenzie K. Conner, MA, MT-BC, LPC-R, The Madeline Centre, Lynchburg, VA

Kathryn Eberle Cotter, MMT, MT-BC, MFT, Create and Connect Collaborative Therapy Services, Butler, PA

Andeline dos Santos, DMus, MA, School of the Arts, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa

Jasmine Edwards, MA, LCAT, MT-BC, doctoral fellow, New York University, New York, NY

Mark Ettenberger, PhD, MA, MT, SONO—Centro de Musicoterapia, Bogotá, Colombia

CharCarol Fisher, MA, MT-BC, School of Music, University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS

Sunelle Fouché, MMus (MT), MusicWorks, Cape Town, South Africa

Lisa Gallagher, PhD, MT-BC, Arts and Medicine Department, Cleveland Clinic, Mayfield Heights, OH

Caley Garden, MM, Red Cross War Memorial Children’s Hospital, Cape Town, South Africa

Maevon Gumble, MMT, MT-BC, LPC, Becoming Through Sound LLC, Pittsburgh, PA

Laurien Hakvoort, PhD, RMTh, Dutch Association for Music Therapy; Department of Music Therapy, ArtEZ University of the Arts, Enschede, the Netherlands

Faith Halvorsen-Ramos, MA, LPC, ADDC, MT-BC, doctoral student, Department of Music Therapy, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO; SoundWell Music Therapy, PLLC, Longmont, CO

Brian T. Harris, PhD, MT-BC, LCAT, Harris and Long Psychotherapy, New York, NY; Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development, New York University, New York, NY; Kint Institute, New York, NY

Audrey Hausig, MMT, MT-BC, Philadelphia Music Therapy, Philadelphia, PA

Annie Heiderscheit, PhD, MT-BC, LMFT, Cambridge Institute for Music Therapy Research, Anglia Ruskin University, Cambridge, United Kingdom

Eugenia Hernandez-Ruiz, PhD, MT-BC, School of Music, Dance, and Theatre, Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona

Braedyn Inmon, MMT, MT-BC, LPC-A, Connecticut Music Therapy Services, Fairfield, CT

Peter Jampel, DA, MT-BC, LCAT, Baltic Street Into Action, Brooklyn, NY; Music and Performing Arts Professions, New York University, New York

Viggo Krüger, PhD, Grieg Academy Music Therapy Research Centre, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway

Diane G. Langston, MM, MT-BC, North Florida/South Georgia Veterans Affairs (VA) Health System at the Malcom Randall Department of VA Medical Center, Gainesville, FL

Hakeem Leonard, PhD, MT-BC, Associate Professor of Music Therapy, Shenandoah University, Winchester, VA

Raymond Leone, MMT, MT-BC, A Place to Be, Middleburg, VA

Carol Lotter, PhD, School of the Arts, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa

Ming Yuan Low, PhD, MT-BC, Department of Music Therapy, Berklee International College of Music–Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Jennifer Manno, MM, MT-BC, CEIM, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA

Bill Matney, PhD, MT-BC, School of Music, University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS

Tríona McCaffrey, PhD, MA MT, Irish World Academy of Music and Dance, University of Limerick, Limerick, Ireland

Katrina Skewes McFerran, PhD, RMT, RGIMT, Faculty of Fine Arts and Music, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia

Anthony Meadows, PhD, MT-BC, FAMI, Director of Music Therapy, Shenandoah University, Winchester, VA

Maren Metell, PhD, postdoctoral fellow, Grieg Academy, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway

John F. Mondanaro, PhD, LCAT, MT-BC, CCLS, Brookdale Department of Geriatrics and Palliative Medicine, Icahn School of Medicine, Mount Sinai Hospital, New York, NY

Nsamu Moonga, MMT, doctoral candidate, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa

Kimberly Sena Moore, PhD, MT-BC, Bower School of Music, Florida Gulf Coast University, Fort Myers, FL

Hilary Moss, PhD, MBA, Irish World Academy of Music and Dance, University of Limerick, Limerick, Ireland

Kathleen M. Murphy, PhD, LCAT, MT-BC, Department of Music, State University of New York at New Paltz, New Paltz, NY

Clare O’Callaghan, PhD, AM, RMT, RGMIT, Department of Medicine, St. Vincent’s Hospital, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia

Kristen O’Grady, MA, LCAT, MT-BC, doctoral fellow, University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS

Amelia Oldfield, PhD, MPhil, LGSM(MT), Cambridge Institute for Music Therapy Research (Emeritus), Anglia Ruskin University, Cambridge, United Kingdom

Helen Oosthuizen, PhD, private practice, United Kingdom

Noah Potvin, PhD, LPC, MT-BC, Mary Pappert School of Music, Duquesne University, Pittsburgh, PA

Andrew Rossetti, PhD, LCAT, MT-BC, Louis Armstrong Department of Music Therapy, Mount Sinai Health System, New York, NY

Jess Rushing, PhD, MT-BC, Department of Music, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO

Kaylynn Schachner, MMT, MT-BC, private practice, Pittsburgh, PA

Suzannah Scott-Moncrieff, MA, MT-BC, LCAT, Association for Music and Imagery, United Kingdom

Indra Selvarajah, PhD, NICU-MT, Department of Music, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Selangor, Malaysia

Carolyn Shaw, PhD, NZRMT, New Zealand School of Music, Te Kōkī, Victoria University of Wellington, Aotearoa, Wellington, New Zealand

Stephanie Sofield, MM, MT-BC, Mary Pappert School of Music, Duquesne University, Pittsburgh, PA

Jennifer Sokira, MMT, LCAT, MT-BC, Connecticut Music Therapy Services, Fairfield, CT; Alverno College, Southern Connecticut State University, New Haven, CT

Krzysztof Stachyra, PhD, MT-C, Music Therapy Study Program, Maria Curie-Skłodowska University, Lublin, Poland

Jeannette Tamplin, PhD, RMT, Faculty of Fine Arts and Music, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia; Austin Health, Melbourne, Australia

Natasha Thomas, PhD, MT-BC, Department of Music Technology, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN; Black Creative Healing, Bloomington, IN

Concetta Tomaino, DA, LCAT, MT-BC, Institute for Music and Neurologic Function, Mt Vernon, NY; Music, Multimedia, Theatre and Dance, Lehman College, Bronx, NY

Giorgos Tsiris, PhD, MMT(NR), Occupational Therapy and Arts Therapies Division, Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh, Scotland, United Kingdom; St. Columba’s Hospice Care, Edinburgh, Scotland, United Kingdom

Alan Turry, DA, LCAT, MT-BC, Nordoff–Robbins Center for Music Therapy, New York University, New York, NY

Michael Viega, PhD, LCAT, MT-BC, Cali School of Music, Montclair State University, Montclair, NJ

Alpha Woodward, PhD, FAMI, MA, Marywood University (retired), Scranton, PA

Juan Pedro Zambonini, PhD, MT-BC, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA

Michael L. Zanders, PhD, MT-BC, Boyer College of Music and Dance, Temple University, Philadelphia, PA

Jingwen Zhang, PhD, LCAT, MT-BC, Music Therapy Graduate Program, State University of New York at New Paltz, New Paltz, NY

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Audience

Music, movement, art, and play therapists; clinical psychologists, social workers, counselors, and psychiatrists, including those working or consulting in health care settings; nurses; graduate students in these fields.

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Course Use

Serves as a text in such courses as Foundations of Music Therapy and Introduction to Music Therapy.

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Previous editions published by Guilford:

First Edition, © 2015
ISBN: 9781462529728

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New to this edition:

• Expanded coverage of working with marginalized communities, including racially minoritized, refugee, LGBTQIA+, and neurodiverse clients, and an increased emphasis on therapist reflexivity.
• Provides an integrated conceptual framework for understanding different music therapy approaches.
• First edition editor Barbara L. Wheeler is joined by Michael Viega and Andeline dos Santos, who bring fresh perspectives and a more international scope.