The recovery approach in mental health care emphasises the importance of the service user leading a fulfilling, meaningful life beyond the limitations of illness or symptomatology. This approach to care is increasingly included as a central part of mental health policy and service provision in a number of countries including the UK and Ireland, to address the needs of people who have severe and enduring mental disorders. It is an autonomous, holistic and empowering way of working with individuals as they journey towards healing. Fundamental to this model is the relationship fostered between service users and health professionals. The recovery philosophy of care mirrors some of the core principles of music therapy, including the importance of the therapeutic relationship and the possibilities for change and growth within this. This paper explores the congruence between music therapy and the recovery approach by providing; 1. An overview of current published evidence for music therapy in mental health care, 2. A discussion of this psycho-social creative arts therapy intervention within the specialized area of recovery in psychiatry, and 3. Case vignettes to illustrate the application of this philosophy in music therapy work within a recovery service.
Participants indicated that they each experienced music therapy in unique ways. Opinions about the value of music therapy were revealed through an interview process in which the researcher holds an open attitude, welcoming all narrative contributions respectfully. These findings can remind practitioners of the importance of closely tuning into the perspectives and understandings of those who have valuable expertise to share about their experience of music therapy services in mental health.
This paper presents a rationale for arts-based practices in music therapy research, and provides an example of using ABR techniques in research. Arts-based materials are increasingly demonstrated to have the capacity to extend processes of reflexivity and analysis in a range of qualitative health research studies. By comparison, music therapy research studies have rarely employed arts-based methods or techniques. There is a need for more studies in music therapy that employ arts-based research to demystify and elaborate a wider range of creative approaches within music therapy inquiry. In the study described in this paper, ABR was used to reflect on the contribution of a service user in a community mental health context who participated in a focus group about his experiences of music therapy. ABR was found to offer a creative way to engage service users, and to deepen and extend the researcher's reflexivity when responding to materials created by research participants.
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