b. wheeler, c. shultis, d. polen,editors, ,clinical training guide for the student music therapist...

3
Book reviews 181 user-friendly instructions and illustrative case examples, the PFI manual should be of use to a variety of mental health professionals, including creative arts therapists. References Izard, C. E. (1979). The maximally discriminative facial movement coding system (MAX). Newark University of Delaware, Instructional Resource Centre. Watson, D., & Clark, L. A. (1991). Preliminary manual for the PANAS-X: Positive and negative affect schedule—expanded form. Dallas, TX: Southern Methodist University. Donna J. Betts, PhD, ATR-BC The Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL, USA Tel.: +1 850 294 4608. E-mail address: [email protected] doi:10.1016/j.aip.2007.01.006 Clinical Training Guide for the Student Music Therapist, B. Wheeler, C. Shultis, D. Polen (Eds.). Barcelona Publishers, Gilsum, NH (2005). 213 pp., $35.00 Will I know what to do when I get to my training site? What should I know? How do I take what I have learned in the classroom into the clinic? What kind of music should I use? How do I conduct an assessment? These and many other questions beset the music therapy student when approaching fieldwork and internship experiences. While assured that these questions will be answered through the hands-on experiences and the learning that comes from those experiences, students continue to approach fieldwork and internship with trepidation. Wheeler, Shultis, and Polen have written an excellent 18-chapter book that helps music therapy students in the United States understand their role in the clinic, from the first placement through the internship. The book is a well-sequenced, detailed, and easy-to-follow guide, with suggested readings that further support each chapter, along with exercises for each phase of training that provide a personal barometer of progress. Some of the chapters in this book are brief, but the reader immediately recognizes that the brevity is well planned and intended to allow the student time to absorb the significance of what has been presented without getting lost. The book begins its focus on the student music therapist, carries the reader through a journey of understanding music and music therapy, and ends with its focus once again on the student music therapist. Clinical Training Guide for the Student Music Therapist begins with an introduction to the best ways the student can use the book. The differing needs of students at each level of training are highlighted. Those levels of training are: (1) observing, participating, and assisting; (2) planning and co-leading; and (3) leading. In Chapter 1, Doing Music Therapy: An Exploration, the significant point made is that the process of becoming an effective music therapist takes time. This both warns and reassures the student music therapist that music therapy is a process that is not static, but constantly evolving. To participate in this evolution, the authors point out that it is necessary for the student music therapist to (1) understand what therapy is; (2) understand what music therapy is along with the theories that accompany it; and (3) develop an understanding of the process of conducting music therapy. This includes recognizing the needs of the clients, the role of the therapist, and the function of music in meeting those needs. Chapter 2 highlights the most salient experiences the student music therapist will have in the clinic: observing the session, participating and assisting in the session, planning and co-leading the session, and leading the session. The Process of Planning for Music Therapy is the title of Chapter 3. Here the authors encourage students to be aware of their own personal beliefs, biases, and perspectives about the different client populations they encounter, their feelings about clients, and their own theories of helping. In addition, students are admonished to consider the client’s point of view, i.e., what the client sees as important to his/her health, the client’s likes and dislikes, and the client’s personal goals. Inherent in these personal perspectives are ethical considerations that will impact how the student works with the client and addresses the needs and goals of the client.

Upload: darlene-brooks

Post on 30-Aug-2016

223 views

Category:

Documents


8 download

TRANSCRIPT

Page 1: B. Wheeler, C. Shultis, D. Polen,Editors, ,Clinical Training Guide for the Student Music Therapist (2005) Barcelona Publishers,Gilsum, NH 213 pp., $35.00

Book reviews 181

user-friendly instructions and illustrative case examples, the PFI manual should be of use to a variety of mental healthprofessionals, including creative arts therapists.

References

Izard, C. E. (1979). The maximally discriminative facial movement coding system (MAX). Newark University of Delaware, Instructional ResourceCentre.

Watson, D., & Clark, L. A. (1991). Preliminary manual for the PANAS-X: Positive and negative affect schedule—expanded form. Dallas, TX:Southern Methodist University.

Donna J. Betts, PhD, ATR-BC ∗The Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL, USA

∗ Tel.: +1 850 294 4608.E-mail address: [email protected]

doi:10.1016/j.aip.2007.01.006

Clinical Training Guide for the Student Music Therapist, B. Wheeler, C. Shultis, D. Polen (Eds.). BarcelonaPublishers, Gilsum, NH (2005). 213 pp., $35.00

Will I know what to do when I get to my training site? What should I know? How do I take what I have learnedin the classroom into the clinic? What kind of music should I use? How do I conduct an assessment? These andmany other questions beset the music therapy student when approaching fieldwork and internship experiences. Whileassured that these questions will be answered through the hands-on experiences and the learning that comes from thoseexperiences, students continue to approach fieldwork and internship with trepidation. Wheeler, Shultis, and Polen havewritten an excellent 18-chapter book that helps music therapy students in the United States understand their role inthe clinic, from the first placement through the internship. The book is a well-sequenced, detailed, and easy-to-followguide, with suggested readings that further support each chapter, along with exercises for each phase of training thatprovide a personal barometer of progress. Some of the chapters in this book are brief, but the reader immediatelyrecognizes that the brevity is well planned and intended to allow the student time to absorb the significance of whathas been presented without getting lost. The book begins its focus on the student music therapist, carries the readerthrough a journey of understanding music and music therapy, and ends with its focus once again on the student musictherapist.

Clinical Training Guide for the Student Music Therapist begins with an introduction to the best ways the studentcan use the book. The differing needs of students at each level of training are highlighted. Those levels of training are:(1) observing, participating, and assisting; (2) planning and co-leading; and (3) leading.

In Chapter 1, Doing Music Therapy: An Exploration, the significant point made is that the process of becomingan effective music therapist takes time. This both warns and reassures the student music therapist that music therapyis a process that is not static, but constantly evolving. To participate in this evolution, the authors point out that it isnecessary for the student music therapist to (1) understand what therapy is; (2) understand what music therapy is alongwith the theories that accompany it; and (3) develop an understanding of the process of conducting music therapy.This includes recognizing the needs of the clients, the role of the therapist, and the function of music in meeting thoseneeds.

Chapter 2 highlights the most salient experiences the student music therapist will have in the clinic: observing thesession, participating and assisting in the session, planning and co-leading the session, and leading the session.

The Process of Planning for Music Therapy is the title of Chapter 3. Here the authors encourage students to beaware of their own personal beliefs, biases, and perspectives about the different client populations they encounter, theirfeelings about clients, and their own theories of helping. In addition, students are admonished to consider the client’spoint of view, i.e., what the client sees as important to his/her health, the client’s likes and dislikes, and the client’spersonal goals. Inherent in these personal perspectives are ethical considerations that will impact how the student workswith the client and addresses the needs and goals of the client.

Page 2: B. Wheeler, C. Shultis, D. Polen,Editors, ,Clinical Training Guide for the Student Music Therapist (2005) Barcelona Publishers,Gilsum, NH 213 pp., $35.00

182 Book reviews

Chapter 4, Client Assessment, by guest author Anthony Meadows begins by discussing the elements of assess-ment: observing the client and listening to the client’s music; assessing both needs and abilities; gathering anddocumenting both music and nonmusical information about the client; and presenting the assessment findings. Iwas particularly impressed with the detail the author provided on the process, purpose, and domains of assessment.What was most significant to me was the point Meadows makes that while there are many sources of assessment avail-able to the student music therapist, we can best know the strengths and needs of the music therapy client throughmusic therapy assessment. To help the student music therapist understand this, the author discusses four musictherapy methods, improvising, re-creating, composing, and listening, that are used as primary sources of musicalinformation. Examples of how each of these methods can be used to gain assessment information about the client areexplained.

Chapter 5, Goals and Objectives, helps the student understand the significance of each and the differencesbetween the two, while also offering guidance on how to write them. This leads into Planning Music Ther-apy Strategies, the following chapter, which helps the student determine the most effective ways to accomplishgoals and objectives, using sequences within the activity itself that are based on the client’s level of functioning.The authors present three elements that may help with strategies: task analysis, skill analysis, and developmentalanalysis.

Chapters 7–11 help the student organize the session and use each of the four music therapy methods, based uponthe client’s functioning ability, and determine goals and objectives. Typical elements of a session are discussed. Witheach of the music therapy methods presented in these chapters, the authors first define the method under discussion,and then provide examples of how those methods can be used with different client populations.

Chapter 12, Further Considerations in Planning, introduces theoretical concepts that often influence the differentstyles used in music therapy. The student is asked to go beyond a confined view of music therapy to consider various waysto look at a client in music therapy. The focus here is on characteristics of the client, developmental level of the client, andneeds of the client. Various sources are provided to help understand diagnoses and music therapy interventions used withclients who have developmental and/or psychiatric disorders. It is emphasized that understanding the developmentallevel of the client is important regardless of the disability presented, as treatment planning can then proceed in thelogical order in which development occurs. Of equal importance is recognition that the breadth of application in musictherapy is extensive. The authors suggest that music therapy occurs on a continuum from a directive to non-directiveframework. They present the student reader with tables that offer three levels of treatment: music activity therapy,insight music therapy with re-educative goals, and music therapy with reconstructive goals. The chapter ends with adiscussion on the theory of helping that the student music therapist is developing, and offers suggestions on approachingtheoretical perspectives with ethical considerations.

Facilitating Client Responses is the topic of Chapter 13. Here the authors present verbal techniques that are helpfulin encouraging clients to verbally respond to music interventions. Included in those techniques are listening, reflecting,interpreting, giving feedback, confronting, and sharing information. Students are encouraged to use modeling andreinforcement to change behavior; extinction to decrease behavior; contracts to help clients agree to the tasks requested;and desensitization to help reduce the client’s fear response. Caution is given to those therapist verbalizations that arecounterproductive to the therapy process, for example, judgmental ones.

Possibly one of the most important topics in the book is found in Chapter 14: The Role of Music. “Engagement withmusic allows clients to experience the patterns of musical structure and the boundaries it creates, along with the flowof emotional expression achieved through singing, playing, improvising, creating, and moving and listening to music(p. 147).” Authors discuss the aesthetic nature of music, and its ability to create new experiences and help the clientview the word differently. The authors recommend examining one’s personal relationship with music, along with one’smusical strengths and weaknesses using the four methods.

The next three chapters provide student music therapists with guidelines for working with individuals and groupsas well as documentation strategies with sample progress notes, readings, and assignments.

The final chapter returns the book’s focus to the student music therapist. The emphasis here is on continuous growthand learning about self, self and music, therapy, verbal skills, and music therapy. Taking responsibility for self is alsohighlighted, with suggestions on ways to monitor self-development.

This book is very well written and timely as our profession and client populations continue to grow. The readingsand assignments that accompany each chapter offer additional guidance to the student music therapist. This book isalso an excellent resource for academic and clinical supervisors and helps keep students focused on their growth based

Page 3: B. Wheeler, C. Shultis, D. Polen,Editors, ,Clinical Training Guide for the Student Music Therapist (2005) Barcelona Publishers,Gilsum, NH 213 pp., $35.00

Book reviews 183

on their level of training. I have used this book in supervision and recommend it highly as an excellent resource for allmusic therapy students and clinicians.

Darlene Brooks, PhD, MT-BC, LPC, LCAT ∗Coordinator of Undergraduate Music Therapy, Boyer College of Music & Dance,

Temple University, Philadelphia, PA 19122, United States

∗ Tel.: +1 215 204 8340.E-mail address: [email protected]

doi:10.1016/j.aip.2007.01.005