The Ontology of Music in Music Therapy

Abstract: Every practice has a theoretical foundation. You cannot at all act without some conception, at some level, of what you are doing. Whether or not it is explicitly articulated, the structure of some underlying theory gives sense to what we are doing, also as practicing music therapists. The question has been raised whether music therapy may expect to find an external theory that will encompass the field (Aigen, 1991; Ansdell, 1997; Pavlicevic, 1997). I do not think so. I also have doubts as to whether it will be possible to simply compose an integrated theory of music therapy from a mixture of discourses from other fields. I presume that music therapy needs to develop some theory on its own terms, because we can hardly expect to find any ready-made theory that fits music therapy from other, related fields. There are unique features in music therapy, and these need to be accounted for. Music therapy then needs to work out a foundational theory; both to facilitate a professional discourse within the field itself and for establishing dialog with other related ones.

https://voices.no/index.php/voices/article/view/63/56