Music therapy as a caring intervention: Swedish musicians learning a new professional field

Abstract

The question of competence in providing music therapy has rarely been the focus of interest in empirical research, as most music therapy research aims at measuring outcomes. Therefore, the aim of this study is to analyse and describe musicians’ learning processes when they study music therapy as a caring intervention. An initial presumption is that musicians are highly qualified to take advantage of the potential of music but need to become familiar with the caring perspective. Ten freelance musicians participated in an education programme with music therapy anchored in a lifeworld-oriented caring science model. They were interviewed about their learning experiences. The data was analysed according to a phenomenographic method. The musicians’ understanding of their learning music therapy is described in terms of four qualitative categories: conversion, openness, reflection and practice. Learning as a continuous process is discussed in relation to pedagogic theories about tacit knowledge and ‘learning by doing’.