This is a review of the book "The Music of Being: Music Therapy, Winnicott and the School of Object Relations" authored by Alison Levinge. Title: The Music of Being: Music Therapy, Winnicott and the School of Object Relations | Author: Alison Levinge | Publication year: 2015 | Publisher: Jessica Kingsley Publishers | Pages: 176 | ISBN: 978-1-84905-576-5

Research in the field of music therapy and substance-related disorders is growing and diverse within the intended treatment areas and interventions. Evidences of music therapy on this population have been focused on the effects of particular music therapy technique(s) or generalised responses from participants without establishing any theoretical treatment model. The application of music therapy within a solid treatment model based on thorough theoretical orientation is essential to any recovery or rehabilitation programme. This paper establishes the theoretical and empirical implications of music therapy based on Gerard Egan’s Helping Model (2013) in treating patients with substance-related disorders, in particular alcohol use disorder (AUD). Egan suggested three principle goals of helping: (1) life-enhancing outcomes; (2) learning self-help; and (3) prevention mentality. This paper will explore whether the therapeutic goals in Egan’s Helping Model can be addressed and established at the forefront of a music therapy treatment model for individuals with AUD and introduces empirical music therapy interventions with a case study based on the Helping Model.

15th World Congress of Music Therapy ‘Moving forward with music therapy – Inspiring the next generation’ | 4-8 July 2017 | Tsukuba, Japan

International symposium ‘Music therapy in educational settings’ | 5-6 May 2017 | Institute for Musicology and Music Education, University of Bremen, Germany

To date, the authors are not aware of any researcher who has studied research productivity solely specific to the Journal of Music Therapy. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to determine research productivity within the Journal of Music Therapy by descriptively analysing the first authors and their respective institutional affiliations of refereed articles within the journal from 2000-2015. We hand-searched all refereed articles in the Journal of Music Therapy from 2000-2015 and created a database of first authors and their affiliations. From 2000-2015, 181 different first authors published articles in the Journal of Music Therapy. The most frequently publishing author had 15 articles (Silverman), while five authors published six articles (Cevasco, Gregory, Lim, VanWeeldon, and Walworth), and four authors published four articles (Gooding, Hilliard, Register, and Waldon). From 2000-2015, authors from 91 different universities or colleges and 26 non-university institutions published articles in the Journal of Music Therapy. Authors affiliated with Florida State University (42 articles), the University of Kansas (24 articles), and the University of Minnesota (13 articles) published the most articles. The long lists of contributing first authors and their respective affiliations highlight the selectivity and diversity of the Journal of Music Therapy. However, there are other ways – including citations and journal impact factors – to measure research eminence and the authors caution against generalisations. Suggestions for future research, limitations and implications are provided.

Students with Special Educational Needs (SEN) have difficulties in learning, perception and communication that often pose challenges for participation in traditionally organised music lessons with instruments. Embodied approaches to music education concentrate on utilising body movements to create and enhance learning. As embodied musical activities are drawn from the personal experiences of the students, it is possible to meet the diverse needs of learners efficiently. In this article, we provide introductory remarks on the conceptual content and sphere of embodiment in the context of special music education. We use Dalcroze Eurhythmics as an example, as it is deeply grounded in embodied music making and has a long history of being applied in this area.

This article discusses the application of Dalcroze Eurhythmics in work with children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) symptoms. It comprises selected results of a doctoral study on the use of Eurhythmics with six-year-old children with ADHD symptoms, concerning mainly motor activity control and cognitive processes, for instance attention deficit. Quantitative methods were used to collect and analyse the data. The results show that participation in Dalcroze Eurhythmics increased the children’s ability to control motor activity or concentrate attention and lessened the tendency to distraction. The implication of this study is that music and its elements have values which are not only musical but, above all, educational and that they influence motoric, cognitive and social development of children both with and without disabilities.

This paper examines the current expectations for measuring clinical outcomes within the healthcare system in the UK, and introduces an application of the East Kent Outcomes System (EKOS) (Johnson & Elias 2010) as a means of measuring the clinical effectiveness of music therapy. The aim of the article is to describe how the system was implemented within Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust and to demonstrate its use within music therapy practice. The application of EKOS is illustrated through a case study with a client in the Intellectual Disability Service. Examples are given of how the data gathered can be used for reporting the effectiveness of music therapy, along with implications for the future use of the EKOS within the music therapy profession.

This is a review of the book "Mindfulness and the Arts Therapies: Theory and Practice" edited by Laury Rappaport. Title: Mindfulness and the Arts Therapies: Theory and Practice | Editor: Laury Rappaport | Year: 2014 | Publisher: Jessica Kingsley | Pages: 343 | ISBN: 978-1-84905-909-1