Abstract
As recovery is a prevailing vision for modern mental health services internationally, it is timely to consider its current state of play in relation to music therapy practice. This paper offers a theoretical perspective of this topic, by presenting the views of four music therapy researchers situated in Australia, Ireland, Norway, and the United Kingdom. Each of the four authors completed doctoral research in music therapy in the past three years that is explicitly about, or related to, recovery in mental health. Collectively all authors have considerable experience of providing individual and group music therapy services in acute and community settings with adults and adolescents within recovery-oriented services. This article aims to elaborate on the implications of music therapy as a recovery-oriented practice, while presenting recommendations as to how music therapy can maximize support for recovery for our patients and service users. It draws on our respective doctoral study findings and lived experience of offering music therapy in recovery-oriented services, so as to present a collective theoretical perspective to other music therapy practitioners who are interested in this growing area. By doing so we hope to encourage discussion and response from music therapists practising in various mental health contexts in the service of developing the best possible music therapy services to our patients and service users.
Highlights
As recovery is a prevailing vision for modern mental health services internationally, it is timely to consider its current state of play in relation to music therapy practice
This paper offers a theoretical perspective of this topic, by presenting the views of four music therapy researchers situated in Australia, Ireland, Norway, and the United Kingdom
It draws on our respective doctoral study findings and lived experience of offering music therapy in recovery-oriented services, so as to present a collective theoretical perspective to other music therapy practitioners who are interested in this growing area
Summary
Our first recommendation for providing music therapy in a recovery-oriented context is that service users are regarded as ‘experts by experience’. A central assumption in mental health recovery is that service users acquire expertise as a consequence of living with mental illness (Anthony, Rogers, & Farkas, 2003) This expertise extends to knowledge that is assimilated as a result of one’s direct involvement with mental health services and service users’ rights to have an equal stakeholder voice therein. Such a stance positions service users as equal partners in the treatment process whereby personal expertise by experience meets professional expertise by skill and/or training This viewpoint, serves to remind practitioners that service users are the first and foremost point of knowledge in terms of understanding factors that may hinder or foster a personally fulfilling and meaningful life and the priorities placed upon them. Perhaps most relevant in community services, is to include service users or people with user-experience as co-facilitators or partners
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