desarollo

Hey! It's music therapy advocacy month again! I realize that maintaining interest and an audience is going to take more than just one post a year. Full disclosure: I started this blog whilst on maternity leave last year (hello, learning curve!) then went back to work in February, then decided to stay at home with my sweet baby around July. Needless to say, 2011 was all about hunkering down and laser-focusing on my personal life. Now that we're in 2012 and I have a handle on this mothering thing (I mean, as much as can be from totally making it up as I go along - insert appropriate correlations between improvisational mothering and improvisational music therapy - ), along with a whole lot of perspective and drive to see bilingual/multicultural music therapy expand. I also want this to be a place to start conversations, a place to support those of you who have questions and are knee-deep in experiences and wondering what to do next, and encourage each other as we deal with this multifaceted topic.

This past year has given me...well...time...to read back over the foundational texts of music therapy and view them from a multicultural perspective. In Defining Music Therapy, Bruscia says that "it is often necessary to create a definition (of music therapy) to meet the unique demands of each situation" (p2). This being a blog about bilingual and multicultural music therapy, then, begs the question, "What exactly is bilingual and multicultural music therapy?" and then "How do you practice it?" and then, "I only speak English! What do I do?"

I'm so glad you asked. 

"Music therapy does not belong to any one culture, race, country, or ethnic tradition; it is global in its conception and manifestation. It is global not only because it exists as a profession in most industrialized nations around the world, but also, and more important, because the idea of using music as a healing art has existed for centuries, and in many different cultures." -Bruscia

We'll be diving into the following areas: What it means to practice bilingual and multicultural music therapy, why it's important not only in therapeutic relationships but also at linguistic and neurological levels, and hopefully we can provide each other with practical songs, instruments activities, and a little ethnomusicology thrown in to spice things up a bit. 

BUT FIRST - I have some other posts to get out of the way...where were we...ah yes. Therapeutic relationships and individualized goals.  Stay tuned.