Therapeutic Music Education: A Model Linking Experience of Music Education with Music Therapy

Music therapists acknowledge inherent qualities in musical experiences that enable therapeutic growth to take place in their clients, within the context of a therapeutic relationship. Equipped with the belief that these basic tenets of music therapy hold tremendous relevance to music education, and inspired by a recent experience of profound personal growth through my voice instruction at the university level, I sought to investigate the concept of therapeutic music education. Defined as an educational setting in which the educator adopts and adapts facets of music therapy, within therapeutic music education, the boundaries between music therapy and music education are blurred. This qualitative, phenomenological study drew upon data analysis techniques and methods from grounded theory and first-person research. Through interviews with university music educators and university music students, as well as through the writing of my own reflective narrative, I explored educators’ philosophies and students’ experiences of therapeutic music education, seeking the essence of therapeutic music education, and its potential links to music therapy. A model of therapeutic music education with three main components, teacher’s awareness, music as medium, and student’s personal growth, emerged from the data. Within this model, there lies potential for a parallel process between the student’s musical and personal growth to unfold, a process contingent upon the presence of an educator who holds a holistic awareness of each individual and recognizes the unique qualities within musical experiences. From this model of therapeutic music education, parallels and links to music therapy are uncovered and discussed, and possibilities for future research and collaboration between the fields are considered. In particular, “music for music’s sake” advocacy within music education is paralleled with “music-centred” philosophy in music therapy. The stories shared by the participants present the notion that musical growth and personal growth are inextricably linked, and that musical development has a profound impact on the realization of human potential. If this is true, then the implications for both the fields of music therapy and music education are limitless, as are the possibilities for connection and dialogue between the fields