Music therapy is growing internationally to be one of the leading evidence-based psychosocial allied health professions to meet needs across the lifespan.The Oxford Handbook of Music Therapy is the most comprehensive text on this topic in its history. It presents exhaustive coverage of the topic from international leaders in the field.

The 2nd edition of the Oxford Handbook of Music Psychology updates the original landmark text and provides a comprehensive review of the latest developments in this fast growing area of research. Covering both experimental and theoretical perspectives, each of the 11 sections is edited by an internationally recognised authority in the area. The first ten parts present chapters that focus on specific areas of music psychology: the origins and functions of music; music perception, responses to music; music and the brain; musical development; learning musical skills; musical performance; composition and improvisation; the role of music in everyday life; and music therapy. In each part authors critically review the literature, highlight current issues and explore possibilities for the future. The final part examines how, in recent years, the study of music psychology has broadened to include a range of other disciplines. It considers the way that research has developed in relation to technological advances, and points the direction for further development in the field. With contributions from internationally recognised experts across 55 chapters, it is an essential resource for students and researchers in psychology and musicology.

Many young people rely on music to guide them through the good and bad times of their lives. Whether immersing themselves in music to process emotions or creating music as a means of self-expression, it provides a powerful outlet that can help young people navigate the turbulence of adolescence. Centred around the three key areas of emotion, identity, and connectedness, the Handbook of Music, Adolescents, and Wellbeing provides insights into the relationship between music and young people, exploring questions such as: why do teenagers have such a passionate relationship with music? Why this is even more apparent and important during times of difficulty? How can music be utilised to enhance wellbeing? With 26 authors from around the globe, this book canvasses a wide range of perspectives, from the most scientific to the most practical. Each chapter contains insightful stories from the authors' own experiences working with young people, and brings together the latest theory, research, and practice from the fields of music therapy, music psychology, music education, and music sociology to explore and understand how and why music plays such a big part in young lives. The first section addresses the popular topic of music and emotions, clarifying the ways that young people can learn to use music intentionally to achieve healthy outcomes. The second section looks at identity construction, emphasising agency in the ways that young people choose to express themselves both personally and to others. The third section explores connectedness, with a particular emphasis on uses of technology to connect with others. This book will be of interest to music therapists, youth and social workers, psychologists, counsellors, occupational therapists, teachers, parents, and anyone interested in promoting adolescent wellbeing through music.

Neurologic Music Therapy (NMT) is a form of music therapy developed for people suffering from cognitive, sensory, or motor dysfunctions - arising from neurological diseases of the nervous system. People who can benefit from this therapy include sufferers from: stroke, traumatic brain injury, Parkinson's and Huntington's disease, cerebral palsy, Alzheimer's disease, autism, and other neurological diseases affecting cognition, movement, and communication (e.g., MS, Muscular Dystrophy, etc). The Handbook of Neurologic Music Therapy is a comprehensive landmark text presenting a new and revolutionary model of music in rehabilitation, therapy and medicine that is scientifically validated and clinically tested. Each of the 20 clinical techniques is described in detail with specific exercises, richly illustrated and with pertinent background information regarding research and clinical diagnoses. The book is a 'must have' for all neurologic music therapists and those who want to become one, clinicians, university faculty, and students alike. Physicians and therapists from other disciplines will find this tome an important guide to provide new insight how music can contribute significantly to brain rehabilitation and how Neurologic Music Therapists can be effective interdisciplinary providers in patient care.

The study of music and the brain can be traced back to the work of Gall in the 18th century, continuing with John Hughlings Jackson, August Knoblauch, Richard Wallaschek, and others. These early researchers were interested in localizing musicality in the brain and learning more about how music is processed in both healthy individuals and those with dysfunctions of various kinds. Since then, the research literature has mushroomed, especially in the latter part of the 20th and early 21st centuries. The Oxford Handbook of Music and the Brain is a groundbreaking compendium of current research on music in the human brain. It brings together an international roster of 54 authors from 13 countries providing an essential guide to this rapidly growing field. The major themes include Music, the Brain, and Cultural Contexts; Music Processing in The Human Brain; Neural Responses to Music; Musicianship and Brain Function; Developmental Issues in Music and the Brain; Music, the Brain, and Health; and the Future. Each chapter offers a thorough review of the current status of research literature as well as an examination of limitations of knowledge and suggestions for future advancement and research efforts. The book is valuable for a broad readership including neuroscientists, musicians, clinicians, researchers and scholars from related fields but also readers with a general interest in the topic.

"Music has been a vital part of leisure activity across time and cultures. Contemporary commodification, commercialization, and consumerism, however, have created a chasm between conceptualizations of music making and numerous realities in our world. From a broad range of perspectives and approaches, this handbook explores avocational involvement with music as an integral part of the human condition. The chapters in The Oxford Handbook of Music Making and Leisure present myriad ways for reconsidering and refocusing attention back on the rich, exciting, and emotionally charged ways in which people of all ages make time for making music. The contexts discussed are broadly Western, including an eclectic variety of voices from scholars across fields and disciplines, framing complex and multifaceted phenomena that may be helpfully, enlighteningly, and perhaps provocatively framed as music making and leisure. This volume may be viewed as an attempt to reclaim music making and leisure as a serious concern for, amongst others, policy makers, scholars, and educators who perhaps risk eliding some or even most of the ways in which music - a vital part of human existence - is integrated into the everyday lives of people. As such, this handbook looks beyond the obvious, asking readers to consider anew, "What might we see when we think of music making as leisure?""--publisher's website

Music therapists from around the world working in conventional and unconventional settings have offered their contributions to this exciting new book, presenting spirited discussion and practical examples of the ways music therapy can reflect and encourage social change. From working with traumatized refugees in Berlin, care-workers and HIV/AIDS orphans in South Africa, to adults with neurological disabilities in south-east England and children in paediatric hospitals in Norway, the contributors present their global perspectives on finding new ways forward in music therapy. Reflecting on traditional approaches in addition to these newer practices, the writers offer fresh perceptions on their identity and role as music therapists, their assumptions and attitudes about how music, people and context interact, the sites and boundaries to their work, and the new possibilities for music therapy in the 21st century. As the first book on the emerging area of Community Music Therapy, this book should be an essential and exciting read for music therapists, specialists and community musicians.