Alison Davies

Eleanor Richards

Group music therapy has been widely practised for many years, and features substantially in training, yet there has been no publication devoted to the discussion of this area of therapy. This book fills this gap by bringing together the experiences of group music therapy practitioners who work with diverse client groups in various settings.

Sound Company

Music Therapy and Group Work

'The fascinating and diverse descriptions contained in this text begin the process of developing indigenous understandings of music therapy in group work and alert the reader to issues for future exploration. A fascinating text, describing a range of clients - I highly recommend it.' - Nordic Journal of Music Therapy Group music therapy has been widely practised for many years, especially within institutional settings, and features substantially in training, yet there has been no publication devoted to the discussion of this area of therapy. Music Therapy and Group Work fills this gap by bringing together the experiences of group music therapy practitioners who work with diverse client groups in various settings. Whilst acknowledging that the practice of group music therapy incorporates many theoretical and practical issues in common with those of mainstream group work, the editors emphasize that this field needs to develop some further theoretical discourse of its own, primarily because its main contrast from regular group work is that it draws on a non-verbal medium alongside the ordinary verbal exchange. The book combines clinical examples with theory to provide a comprehensive introduction to group music therapy. Practitioners not only of music therapy, but also those working in related disciplines, will find this to be an informative and stimulating read.

Nick Barwick

In Group Music Therapy Alison Davies, Eleanor Richards and Nick Barwick bring together developments in theory and clinical practice in music therapy group work, celebrating the richness of what group analytic thinking and music therapy can offer one another. The book explores the dynamic elements of the processes that take place in both group analytic therapy and group music therapy, exploring both the commonalities and the distinctive characteristics of the two modalities. To music therapists, psychotherapists and other arts therapists Group Music Therapy offers a body of knowledge and enquiry through which to understand the music therapy group process through some of the central proposals of group analysis; to group analysts it offers insight into the possibilities of non-verbal communication through improvised music and, more widely, invites thought in musical terms about the nature of events and exchanges in a therapy group. Links are made with group analytic theory as well as with other associated theoretical traditions, such as attachment theory and theories of early infant development. The book explores the history of group music therapy and the history of group analysis, looking both at core concepts and at more recent developments. Attention is also given to developmental issues, drawing upon theories of infant development and attachment theory and clinical vignettes drawn from music therapy practice with a wide range of patient groups illustrates these ideas. The book concludes with a discussion of the possibilities of co-therapy and other collaborative working and of the value of experiential groups in training. Group Music Therapy will be a key text for clinicians and students seeking to expand their theoretical thinking and enrich their practice, and offers a grounding in group analytic ideas to professionals in other disciplines considering referrals to group work.

Eleanor Richards

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