Music Therapy: A Perspective from the Humanities

An exploration of the advantages of using the humanities as a basis for the theory and practice of music therapy. The humanities include a broad range of academic disciplines, such as those from the social sciences as well as from philosophy, education, and not least, systematic musicology. The author discusses basic concepts of a humanistic outlook and how these may affect music therapy. Important topics include the relational turn in psychotherapy, communicative musicality, “thirdness” in improvisation, the concept of recognition in critical philosophy, musical identity from a developmental perspective, aesthetic considerations for conceiving music, the clinical implications of empowerment theory, notions on health and quality of life, philosophy of science, and new directions in the application of music technology to self-care.