Music therapy assessment: A reflection of professional identity

This article reviews current music therapy literature related to assessment and identifies five parameters used to define music therapy assessment instruments. These parameters are client population, theory/model, area of functioning/con dition, technique, and response to the institution. A concep tualization of assessment is presented as an outgrowth of the interaction among intrinsic factors (e.g., the therapist’s theoretical orientation and perception of the function of the assessment) and extrinsic factors (e.g., the exigencies and needs of the patient population and the pressures and de mands of the institution). The author suggests guidelines for designing assessment instruments that will help to enhance the professional status of music therapists. Perusal of the music therapy literature reveals a recent bur geoning interest in the concept of assessmentand a concomitant increase in the number and diversity of assessment tools. The attention devoted to assessment is easily understood when one considers two major factors. The first is the present-day need to affirm our professionalism through the parallel processes of (a) theory building, with an emphasis on identifying the the oretical underpinnings that reflect our uniqueness (cf., Cohen