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This article addresses the need for theoretical markers in order to support the development of music psychotherapy and augment the dialogue between music therapy and psychotherapy in Canada. Faced with deficient notions of objectivity and subjectivity with regards to one's musical sense, the author shows that music played in a therapeutic context is essentially an intersubjective phenomenon which calls for an interpretive approach. When applied to music therapy, the theory of intersubjectivity offers guidelines to interpret the musical experience and understand its role withing therapeutic change. Music is not considered to have meaning in itself, but the meaning emerges progressively by convergent or divergent connections with other elements of the therapy. The patient is encouraged to experiment and discover various aspects of himself and their relationships through music. He is engaged with his therapist in the task of co-creating meaning. The uniqueness, as well as the mutual therapeutic relationship are recognized by the theory of intersubjectivity and allow the therapist to realize his own contribution to the process. Clinical vignettes are used to illustrate this point. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Interactive Family Music Therapy can have a unique role to play when working as part of a multidisciplinary team by demonstrating a capacity to surprise' a client/patient when they least expect it. It provides a positive shared experience that can add to multidisciplinary assessment and treatment planning. This article will illustrate the role Interactive Family Music Therapy has at Redbank House and includes case material. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to establish a link between the felt quality in musical expression and the psycho-somatic structure of the person playing. This includes specific areas of the body, a corresponding set of emotions and thought patterns, as well as the deeper needs of the person. Discernment of felt quality is facilitated by using the symbolic reference system of the five Indian and Greek elements earth, water, fire, air and space. This framework not only enables the therapist to locate a client's limitations or blockages, but also a means of understanding how to work on them, thus ultimately improving their musicality and well-being. The findings are drawn from the author's work as a music-therapist with adult clients as well as with young autistic, psychotic and disharmonic children, aged 2-8 in a day clinic in central France. Within that work, strong evidence has been found for seven major neuro-musical thresholds, that, when worked on, can bring about substantial changes in a person. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]