Evidence-Based Music Therapy Practice: An Integral Understanding

Author:
Abrams, Brian, PhD, MT-BC, FAMI.

Publisher:
Journal of Music Therapy47.4 (Winter 2010): 351-79.

Cite:
Abrams, Brian, PhD,M.T.-B.C., F.A.M.I. (2010). Evidence-based music therapy practice: An integral understanding. Journal of Music Therapy, 47(4), 351-79. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/848390475?accountid=14771

Abstract:
The American Music Therapy Association has recently put into action a plan called its Research Strategic Priority, with one of its central purposes to advance the music therapy field through research promoting Evidence-Based Practice of music therapy. The extant literature on music therapy practice, theory, and research conveys a range of very different perspectives on what may count as the “evidence” upon which practice is based. There is therefore a need to conceptualize evidence-based music therapy practice in a multifaceted, yet coherent and balanced way. The purpose of this paper is to illustrate a framework based upon four distinct epistemological perspectives on evidence-based music therapy practice that together represent an integral understanding.