Journal of Music Therapy, 51(1), 2014, 1–3 doi:10.1093/jmt/thu005 © the American Music Therapy Association 2014. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: [email protected]

Editorial Journal of Music Therapy: Advancing the Science and Practice of Music Therapy

Indiana University Editor, Journal of Music Therapy

The Journal of Music Therapy has a rich history that began in 1964 with publication of its very first issue. Today, we welcome you to the first issue published by Oxford University Press. In November 2013, the American Music Therapy Association (AMTA) and Oxford University Press announced a new partnership, and we look forward to opportunities for increased visibility and access to our research by consumers, administrators, congressional leaders, and the larger scientific community. We also welcome continued opportunities to grow our science and clinical practice through interdisciplinary collaboration. For those readers who may be new to the Journal of Music Therapy, our mission is to …advance research, theory, and practice in music therapy through the dissemination of scholarly work. Its mission is to promote scholarly activity in music therapy and to foster the development and understanding of music therapy and musicbased interventions. To this end, the journal publishes all types of research, including quantitative, qualitative, historical, philosophical, theoretical, and musical, and may include discipline, profession, and foundational research topics. The journal strives to present a variety of research approaches and topics, to promote critical inquiry, and to serve as a resource and forum for researchers, educators, and clinicians in music therapy and related professions. (AMTA, 2014d) What is Music Therapy? Central to the mission of the journal, is the definition of music therapy: “Music therapy is the clinical and evidence-based use of music interventions to accomplish individualized goals within a therapeutic

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Sheri L. Robb, PhD, MT-BC

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Journal of Music Therapy

Valuing Interdisciplinary Collaborations to Advance the Science and Practice of Music Therapy The nature of the clinical music therapist’s work requires the integration of scientific knowledge from a wide range of disciplines and professions. First, music therapists must understand the clinical problems being addressed – for example, what are the factors or underlying mechanisms that help us understand differences between acute procedural pain versus chronic neuropathic pain? How do problems with selective and sustained attention in children with specific learning disabilities contribute to difficulties with working memory? Second, the music therapist must understand and apply knowledge from basic music perception research to develop and apply theoretically sound interventions. Using the two previous examples - How can knowledge about music and attention regulation inform interventions to manage acute

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relationship by a credentialed professional who has completed an approved music therapy program” (AMTA, 2014e). The term music therapy refers to a profession, and similar to nursing, occupational therapy, physical therapy, or speech therapy our profession has specific education, training, and certification requirements in order to practice. The music therapy profession has well developed Standards for Education and Clinical Training, Standards of Clinical Practice (i.e., scope of practice), and Code of Ethics (AMTA, 2014a, 2014b, 2014c). Music therapists have extensive training in the clinical application of music, which requires a synthesis of knowledge and research about a range of clinical populations, music perception research, sociology and psychology of music, musicianship, and clinical applications of music. Music therapists are trained to use music to address non-musical outcomes and engage in systematic evalua­ tion, develop individualized therapy plans, and monitor c­lient progress. Music therapists have the training necessary to work with clinical populations, adhere to a specified scope of practice, and monitor for adverse events. The primary mission of the Journal of Music Therapy is to advance the science and practice of music therapy. The practice of music therapy is complex, and as with any health profession, is informed by a wide range of scientific and clinical knowledge.

Vol. 51, No. 1, Spring 2014

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References American Music Therapy Association (AMTA). (2014a). AMTA standards for education and clinical training. Retrieved from http://www.musictherapy.org/ members/edctstan American Music Therapy Association (AMTA). (2014b). AMTA standards of clinical practice. Retrieved from http://www.musictherapy.org/about/standards American Music Therapy Association (AMTA). (2014c). Code of ethics. Retrieved from http://www.musictherapy.org/about/ethics American Music Therapy Association (AMTA) (2014d). Journal of Music Therapy mission statement. Retrieved from http://www.musictherapy.org/research/ pubs American Music Therapy Association (AMTA). (2014e). What is music therapy? Retrieved from http://www.musictherapy.org/about/musictherapy

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procedural pain? How can information on music and memory be used to enhance learning? Finally, music therapy process, intervention, and clinical education/training research informs and refines practice. The music therapy profession is well-positioned for interdisciplinary, team science – and we continue to see increases in interprofessional publications both within and outside the Journal of Music Therapy. The Journal of Music Therapy is a profession-specific journal, in that it publishes articles that directly inform the work of boardcertified music therapists, but the generation of knowledge to inform our profession requires integration of knowledge from diverse fields of inquiry – and is a profession that has always been deeply rooted in interdisciplinary collaboration. In future issues, we will have guest editorials and feature articles that touch on the importance of team science and provide systematic integration of knowledge from both basic and applied research to inform a wide range of music therapy interventions. We look forward to what the future holds for the music therapy profession and the Journal of Music Therapy, as we work to advance the science and practice of music therapy.

Journal of Music Therapy: advancing the science and practice of music therapy.

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