Musical improvisation is an increasingly recognised rehabilitative therapy for people who have experienced traumatic brain injury initially thought to be 'unreachable' or 'non-responsive'. Music Therapy and Traumatic Brain Injury demonstrates how music therapy can be used to attend to the holistic, rather than purely functional, needs of people affected by severe head trauma. Divided into three parts, the first section provides an introduction to the effects brain injury has on a person's livelihood. The second is a comprehensive review of available literature on the use of music therapy in the neurorehabilitative setting. The final section examines three case studies designed according to 'therapeutic narrative analysis', an adaptive research method that uses interviewing and video, which focuses on the unique relationship between the professional and the patient. This book will give clinicians key notes for practice and a vision of the integral role music therapy can have in the successful rehabilitation from brain injury.

The central tenet of this collection of doctoral research studies is that identity can be regarded as a performance, achieved through and in dialogue with others. The authors argue that where neuro-degenerative disease restricts movement, communication and thought processes and impairs the sense of self, music therapy and neurological rehabilitation can help to restore the performance of identity within which clients can recognise themselves. Emphasis is placed on identity as a chosen performance, not one imposed by a pathological process - the individual is not defined by the disease. The authors show that music therapy is an effective intervention in neurological rehabilitation that successfully facilitates communication with those who are deemed uncommunicative and can aid rehabilitation of clients affected by dementia, traumatic brain injury, and multiple sclerosis, among other neuro-generative diseases. Music Therapy and Neurological Rehabilitation is an authoritative and comprehensive text that will be of interest to practicing music therapists, students and academics in the field.

Increasingly, music therapy is being practised as an intervention in medical and special educational settings. Focusing on clinical work with developmental disability, paediatrics and neurology, this book informs music therapists through case studies and analyses of theory and practice. The contributors are specialised music therapists who have worked with premature infants in intensive care, children with physical and learning disabilities, children with autism, emotionally disturbed teenagers and adults with neurological illnesses. They describe and explain the planning and evaluation of music therapy intervention, how music therapy can be used for assessing complex organic and emotional disabilities, and aspects of supervision for the professional music therapist. Reflecting on and developing the applications of music therapy, this collection will help establish effective therapy methods in which the creative use of music is employed by skilled and clinically experienced music therapists in a client-oriented interactive process. Clinical Applications of Music Therapy in Psychiatry, & Clinical Applications of Music Therapy in Developmental Disability, Paediatrics and Neurology 2 volume set