The Use of Performances in Music Therapy Practice in Australia: A Qualitative Study

Abstract

The inclusion of performance as a part of the music therapy process is gaining increasing prominence in the literature. Although community music therapy discourse provides a theoretical explanation for the inclusion of performances, better understandings of the practical motivations underlying clinicians' use of performance are needed. Drawing on the responses of 18 Australian music therapists to an emailed questionnaire, this qualitative investigation solicited descriptions of how and why performances were included in their practices and what potential therapeutic outcomes and pitfalls had been experienced. Questionnaire responses were analysed using open coding – an inductive process that facilitates the identification of key ideas from within a data set. Analysis revealed a set of interweaving considerations that led the participating music therapists to use performance, and these were framed into a decision-making tree by the authors. A commitment to the needs of each individual client within performances was identified and this is discussed in light of community music therapy theory. Further investigations of the use of performance in music therapy are needed to better understand the implications of this practice.