Defining Music Therapy

by Kenneth E. Bruscia

The third edition of this book is the culmination of a 25 year project aimed at conceptualizing music therapy in a critically inclusive and integrative way.

Genres: Nonfiction

Paperback

First published January 28, 1989

Reviews

[Chelly · Rating 5 out of 5]

Finally completed this book! I’m restarting my path for music therapy and I begun by reading this as a refresher for 30 minutes every day. Now that I am finished, I will be taking practice exams and starting my next book! My goal is to take and pass the exam by the end of this year so I can enroll to get my Masters in Counseling next year. I truly pray that this works out… just a few more steps away to get my certification. 🙏🏼

[Taylor · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ken Brusica's Book "Defining Music Therapy" was an eye opener. As a new and current student to the field of Music Therapy I could not believe how truly inspiring this field is or could be for so many people. His chapter on how we define Music Therapy in particular was very interesting when he said there was not one way but many ways to define it. I would recommend this book to anyone considering, going into, or currently working with music therapy.

[Kasun Aruna]

music therapy

[Rebekah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thought-provoking read with Bruscia's classic reflective style of writing that keeps you thinking long after you finish it.

[Jessica · Rating 5 out of 5]

Music therapy is beauty-centered.... it is always motivated by the search for beauty, and the meaning that beauty brings to life through music. Thus, the very point of listening to or creating music as a therapeutic endeavor is to experience the beauty and meaning of life, and in the process, to learn how to work through the problems and challenges that are an integral part of the life experience. Just as music presents tension and conflict, and just as it moves toward change and resolution, so does the human being work to become whole and thereby live life more fully. And when this journey toward wholeness takes place within the exquisiteness of an art form, that is within an aesthetic context - the journey is made that much more poignant, potent, and memorable. (42)
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... because music is a manifestation of the order, balance, and harmony inherent in the universe, it has the potential for restoring such qualities to any part of the universe that becomes disordered, unbalanced, or unharmonious through disease or illness. Thus, music and its basic structural components (sound, vibrations) are inherently healing to all living things. (138)
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Music experience serves as a bridge between ordinary consciousness of ordinary reality to nonordinary and expanded consciousness of the infinite. (150)

[Hannah · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is about as un-artistic as you can get.