Position of music therapy as a science and therapeutic practice

Abstract

Music therapy is playing an increasingly important role in the treatment of mental and somatic disorders. The paper discusses the double meaning of the term music therapy, understood as, on the one hand, a therapeutic activity involving music and, on the other, the science concerning the effects of music on the mental and somatic health. The imprecise limits of the notion of music therapy has been brought to the reader’s attention. Music therapy as a science draws on psychology, neuroscience, cognitive and art sciences. Music therapy as a therapeutic method has in turn many elements in common with psychotherapy such as setting, the phenomena of transference, countertransference, resistance, or a therapeutic contract. Music therapy is a relatively new field of knowledge and practice that is still building up its identity and its position.Key words: Music therapy, Music therapy as a therapeutic method.