Concepts of context in music therapy

Abstract

In contemporary music therapy as well as in related interdisciplinary fields, the importance of context in relation to theory, research, and practice has been emphasized. However, the word context seems to be used in several different ways and conceptualizations of contextual approaches vary too. The objective of this theoretical article is to clarify traditions of language use in relation to context in music therapy. In reviewing and discussing the literature, we focus on the field of mental health care. When discussing issues related to context, this literature partly focuses on the surroundings of music therapy practice, partly on the ecology of reciprocal influences within and between situations or systems. On this basis, three types of context awareness in music therapy are identified: music therapy in context; music therapy as context; and music therapy as interacting contexts. The identified types of context awareness are exemplified through references to music therapy literature and then discussed in relation to two very different metaphors, namely context as frame and context as link. Implications for practice, research, and theory development in music therapy are suggested.

Toward Understanding Music Therapy as a Recovery-Oriented Practice within Mental Health Care: A Meta-Synthesis of Service Users' Experiences

“…Third and last, music was used by the patients/users to establish contact with other people in the community, particularly people from various parts of the cultural life, such as other musicians, a DJ from a local pub or people on the Internet. A music therapy practice that includes all these different participants and sites, with the aim of supporting change on both an individual and relational level, operates with complex interventions within a complex system (Rolvsjord & Stige, 2013).…”

Medicine and meaning—How experienced therapists describe the role of medication in recovery processes in bipolar disorder

“…Underlying models represent specific ways of understanding and describing phenomena. They are often implicit, but as discourses or grand narratives, they will inevitably frame and impact how we carry out research and clinical practice (Rolvsjord & Stige, ). An alternative to the prominent medical model in the field of mental health care, as described by Wampold () and Williams (), may be found in the recovery perspective (Davidson, ; Slade, ).…”

“…These disorders have an underlying (biomedical) cause, which can be understood and accounted for by an expert professional. Based on this knowledge, the professional can develop specific interventions that can be tailored to be solutions that may cure the disorders (Rolvsjord & Stige, ). These meta‐assumptions lie beneath both pharmacological and psychological interventions (Wampold, ; Williams, ).…”

“…While this dominant way of thinking has many advantages in reducing complexity and allowing for the structured implementation of knowledge in clinical practice, many of its limitations have not been fully acknowledged. Rolvsjord and Stige () write: “The problem with the medical model is one that often follows success; it has been transplanted to practices where there is less of a fit between the model and the problems and possibilities that people have” (p. 48). Paradoxically, this may also be the case in regard to medication for people with bipolar disorder, as it too is not only a medical concern but also a matter of meaning.…”

Queering the Curriculum: Why Music Therapy and Other Creative Arts Therapy Trainings Need Queer Theory

“…As the decade progressed, further in-depth gender studies appeared (Baines & Edwards, 2019;Curtis, 2013aCurtis, ,, 2013bCurtis, ,, 2013cCurtis, ,, 2015aCurtis, ,, 2015bHadley & Gumble, 2019;Halstead & Rolvsjord, 2017;Rolvsjord & Halstead, 2013;Rolvsjord & Stige, 2015). A special issue on gender in the creative arts therapies was published by The Arts in Psy-chotherapy in 2013 with guest editor Professor Sandi Curtis.…”