The Clinical and Theoretical Trends of Music Therapists: The Israeli Case

Abstract

Abstr Abstract actIn the present study we conducted a first of its kind online survey of music therapists (MTs) in Israel. Though this field has been growing rapidly and to date includes about 700 MTs, there was not yet a survey conducted to adress their fields of interest, and their clinical and theoretical orientations. A total of 107 MTs, 48 of which had more than 8 years of experience (MEMT) and 57 of which had less than 8 years of experience (LEMT), answered an internet survey examining: (a) the instruments and the techniques they use, (b) the populations they work with, and (c) their theoretical orientation. Results indicated significant differences between MEMTs and LEMTs in almost all fields of inquiry. Generally, most of the younger generation is open to more techniques, proficient with more instruments, and uses more music in their work. In a continuously globalizing world, the results of this study are relevant to not only Israeli music therapists, but others as well since the local situation captured in this study can be compared and related to the situations in other countries. Recommendations are provided for places where such studies and surveys have not yet been conducted.

Music Therapists’ Insights Regarding a Shift in Practice Orientation

“…Although Bruscia (1998c) does note that the way one practices may be a function of their countertransference (a point that we will return to as we discuss our findings), in our review of the literature, we found just a handful of studies that report data on music therapists' intentional choice of orientation (Choi, 2008;Reichert, 2018;Weiss et al, 2017). Findings from Choi's 2008 survey of music therapists in the United States indicate that one's practice orientation is strongly correlated with the orientation espoused in one's training program.…”

“…Reichert's (2018) more recent survey focused on therapists working with adults in psychiatric facilities in the United States, with findings showing a near-even split between cognitive-behavioral and humanistic orientations, but no mention of factors influencing these choices. Weiss et al (2017), when discussing results of their survey of Israeli music therapists, speculate that not only training programs, but also the practice orientation of the clinical supervisor might wield a potent influence.…”

Music therapy in dementia and end-of-life care: A report from Israel

“…Finally, in 2012, a programme for ultra-orthodox women headed by Avi Gilboa was founded and operated until 2018. This programme was a branch of the Bar-Ilan programme, so it was directly influenced by Bar-Ilan's curricula, but cultural adjustments were made for the students, who came from a strictly religious cultural background (Weiss et al, 2017).…”

“…A survey conducted in 2017 in Israel (Weiss et al, 2017) addressed music therapists' fields of interest and their clinical and theoretical orientation. A total of 107 music therapists took the survey.…”

Why Music Therapists Choose to Work with a Clinical Population: An International Pilot Survey

“…For the current study, only questions that referred to the choice of clientele and relevant demographic information were analyzed. As in other international surveys conducted among music therapists, the online platform enabled a good outreach to participants and an efficient way to collect data (see [ 21 , 22 , 23 , 24 ] for similar uses of online surveys for music therapists on a national and international scale). Specifically, in this study, we referred to and analyzed questions in which music therapists explained why they chose to work with the clinical populations they treated.…”