Music-Centered Dimensions of Nordoff-Robbins Music Therapy

Abstract

There is a mutually constitutive relationship between Nordoff-Robbins music therapy (NRMT) and music-cen- tered music therapy.1 The former term designates an overall approach to music therapy with specific theories, intervention strategies, techniques, modes of research, forms of assess- ment and evaluation, and values; the latter term designates a stance that one can take (much like being client-centered or directive) that can be implemented within a variety of clinical approaches. The present article draws connections between the clinical model of NRMT and the particular perspective represented by music-centered thinking.The article begins with a brief introduction to the philosoph- ical foundations underlying music-centered thinking, expand- ing on ideas from the philosopher John Dewey and the music philosopher, David Elliott. The first of two main sections that follow includes a more detailed look at some of the central aspects of music-centered music therapy and shows how par- ticular components of NRMT reflect these elements of music-centered thinking. The second main section reverses this analytical strategy and analyzes a few of the core notions of NRMT to show how music-centered precepts are present within them.Music-centered ideas were implicit in the origins of NRMT in 1958 when its two developers, Paul Nordoff and Clive Robbins, first met. A music-centered perspective was reflected in the phrase they employed to describe their work as the art of music as therapy.2 The first published appear- ance of the term music-centered as a descriptor of music therapy was in the mid-1980s in the name of the The Bonny Foundation: An Institute for Music-Centered Therapies, founded by Helen Bonny, Barbara Hesser, and Carolyn Kenny. Subsequent uses of the term were made almost exclusively by authors writing about guided imagery and music (GIM) or NRMT, although this is not to say that the approach is limited to those models.While music-centered thinking informed the origins of NRMT, the detailed clinical explorations and reports of scores of NR therapists working since 1959 offer a unique contribu- tion to the general theory of music-centered music therapy. Hence, the focus of the present article is to detail some of the ways that the theory and practice of NRMT reflect underlying music-centered principles.There is a wide spectrum of practice under the umbrella of NRMT. While the overall perspective of the model is music- centered, there is a diversity of opinion regarding issues such as whether or not music-centered precepts complement or contradict psychodynamic considerations. However, even those practitioners such as Alan Turry (1998) who comfortably integrate psychodynamic practices within NRMT do so in a way that acknowledges the music-centeredness that provides the foundation for the model. And just as music-centered thinking is not restricted to practitioners of NRMT, these prac- titioners are not restricted to thinking only in music-centered ways. Given these caveats, all of the discussions regarding the connections between music-centered thinking and NRMT should be understood as tendencies rather than as strict delin- eations. Moreover, NRMT is not a uniform practice. In the material that follows, general statements about what NRMT consists of should be understood primarily as referring to the form of practice that characterized its originators rather than to the model as a whole, which includes some contemporary variations.Origins and Definition of Music-Centered Music TherapyA number of factors are driving the contemporary develop- ment of music-centered thinking in music therapy.Personal dimension. The music-centered perspective in music therapy is deeply rooted in one's personal experience in music. Consequently, it is relevant to detail some of my own reasons for developing this perspective. My motivation to do music therapy stems from musical experiences that have enriched my life immeasurably. …