'Community Music Therapy' presents a new way of considering music therapy in more culturally, socially and politically sensitive ways. It suggests new practices and new thinking for music therapy in the 21st century, and offers a critique of some older methods.

This book explores how people may use music in ways that are helpful for them, especially in relation to a sense of wellbeing, belonging and participation. The central premise for the study is that help is not a decontextualized effect that music produces. The book contributes to the current discourse on music, culture and society and it is developed in dialogue with related areas of study, such as music sociology, ethnomusicology, community psychology and health promotion. Where Music Helps describes the emerging movement that has been labelled Community Music Therapy, and it presents ethnographically informed case studies of eight music projects (localized in England, Israel, Norway, and South Africa). The various chapters of the book portray "music's help" in action within a broad range of contexts; with individuals, groups and communities - all of whom have been challenged by illness or disability, social and cultural disadvantage or injustice. Music and musicing has helped these people find their voice (literally and metaphorically); to be welcomed and to welcome, to be accepted and to accept, to be together in different and better ways, to project alternative messages about themselves or their community and to connect with others beyond their immediate environment. The overriding theme that is explored is how music comes to afford things in concert with its environments, which may suggest a way of accounting for the role of music in music therapy without reducing music to a secondary role in relation to the "therapeutic," that is, being "just" a symbol of psychological states, a stimulus, or a text reflecting socio-cultural content.

Invitation to Community Music Therapy presents the main perspectives and principles of community music therapy as it is practiced around the world. A relatively recent development within the broader field of music therapy, community music therapy emphasizes human connectedness, health promotion, and social change. This textbook surveys the history, theory, and current practice of community music therapy to develop a comprehensive picture of the field. Along the way it takes full measure of the diverse and vibrant ways community music therapy is practiced around the globe. Including dozens of photographs and pedagogical tools such as chapter questions, textboxes, figures, key terms, and discussion topics, Invitation to Community Music Therapy is the ideal introduction to a growing area of music therapy.

The last few years the term Community Music Therapy increasingly has come into circulation, and with it, fresh debates about the relevance and meaning of the term and of the practices it refers to. How could Community Music Therapy be described and defined? What characteristics of human nature and late modern culture indicate the relevance of Community Music Therapy? What preliminary descriptors could be developed for Community Music Therapy practice? What are the implications for the discipline and profession of music therapy? These are the questions addressed in this study, which is characterised as a qualitative inquiry with a strong theoretical component. Available literature resources in four countries -- Germany, Norway, Britain, and the US -- are examined as a foundation for the elaboration of a metatheoretical platform from which the history, importance, and significance of Community Music Therapy can be accounted for. The casework presented and analysed in Chapters 6 and 7 is chosen as part of the ongoing narrative and accompanied by extensive commentary on methodological implications. Analysis is given to the empirical material from several interlocking perspectives, each time adding up to a further step in the overall theoretical project of the dissertation. A context-inclusive Model of Music Therapy Processes, which challenges conventional music therapy theories and practices, is developed in Chapter 8, before the final Chapters 9 and 10 synthesise the various perspectives and material taken in pursuit of provisional answers to the four research questions.

Why is music so important to most of us? How does music help us both in our everyday lives, and in the more specialist context of music therapy? This book suggests a new way of approaching these topical questions, drawing from Ansdell's long experience as a music therapist, and from the latest thinking on music in everyday life. Vibrant and moving examples from music therapy situations are twinned with the stories of 'ordinary' people who describe how music helps them within their everyday lives. Together this complementary material leads Ansdell to present a new interdisciplinary framework showing how musical experiences can help all of us build and negotiate identities, make intimate non-verbal relationships, belong together in community, and find moments of transcendence and meaning. How Music Helps is not just a book about music therapy. It has the more ambitious aim to promote (from a music therapist's perspective) a better understanding of 'music and change' in our personal and social life. Ansdell's theoretical synthesis links the tradition of Nordoff-Robbins music therapy and its recent developments in Community Music Therapy to contemporary music sociology and music studies. This book will be relevant to practitioners, academics, and researchers looking for a broad-based theoretical perspective to guide further study and policy in music, well-being, and health.

Music therapy professionals work with diverse population groups, and this book provides therapists, and those in training, with the tools to integrate understanding of different cultural and social identities into their practice. Topics addressed include heritage, age, location, identity and health beliefs, and how to understand the dynamics of the variety of different cultures which music therapists will encounter in the course of their practice. Each chapter is written by an expert on a topic of personal interest in music therapy, explored through a multicultural lens. The chapters include anecdotes, case studies, and practical activities to try, while encouraging the reader to reflect on their own identity as a music therapist. This book is essential reading for all music therapy professionals wanting to practice in a culturally-informed manner, and respect the needs, contributions and strengths of every client.

As you read through the essays in this collection you will become familiar with music therapists who are interested in cultural dialogue. The book includes essays on communication, culture, and community, as well as reports and columns from fourteen countries around the world. Perhaps culture is some kind of last frontier and therefore one we approach with fear, trepidation and a degree of anxiety? This last frontier reaches into the core of who we are as human beings. It ventures into the complexities of identity, not only individual, but group identities. It shapes our territories, our homes. It determines our music, our healing practices. And to make it even more potentially threatening, these cultural landscapes are on the move. How are music therapists coping with these radical changes, and how are they continuing their professional discourse, which was established in a time when these dramatic cultural shifts were perhaps present but not considered a force to reckon with? The book will be of relevance for all students and professionals of music therapy, and for clinicians and researchers in related fields. As music, culture, and health are seminal topics in the life of most people, the general public will also find much of interest in this anthology.