The "music therapy component theory" known from Transitions Between Language and Music (now out of print) appears fully revised and greatly reduced in the first part of this text. The second part develops a general therapy view of improvisation as a social model. On this basis, the social, musical, and methodological differentiation of the theory's components are investigated qualitatively and quantitatively from a unique research approach, leading to surprising results.

This book offers an overview presenting and discussing the potentials, capabilities and settings of Outdoor Music Therapy in a theoretical and practical manner and comparing them to relevant music therapeutic developments (such as Community Music Therapy). Furthermore the results and knowledge gained through a survey concerning the characteristics of Outdoor Music Therapy, in which internationally renowned music therapists participated, are debated. The adventurous, belletristic style of writing invites a wide readership to “plunge” into the careful, healthy world of Outdoor Music Therapy.

This book contains important texts on the foundations of dance therapy. In the first part, historical chapters show the sources of dance therapy which are still relevant today. In addition, some concepts from the beginnings of dance therapy in the USA are presented. The second part contains early basic texts on dance therapy in specific fields of practice, demonstrating the concepts which were developed in Germany. Today, dance therapy is a scientifically and clinically well respected form of therapy based on its own methodology and a specific profile of standards and training programs. Dance therapy is used for diseases of psychic and psychosomatic nature for both in- and out- patients and in the field of health care. This collection offers solid ground for this form of therapy.

When parents are confronted with their child’s diagnosis of a disability, they may suddenly lose all of their freedom. They lose the freedom to meet the child with positive feelings, the freedom to develop an optimistic perspective for the future, and last but not least the freedom to play with the child in an uninhibited manner. This book reveals the results of thirty-seven interviews with affected mothers and fathers. How do they experience the disability of their child? How do they deal with and overcome the diagnosis? Music therapies conducted with the children of the interviewees are also described and analyzed. How do the children play? Was freedom lost here too?

Guided Imagery and Music (GIM) - Concepts and clinical Applications, ed. by Isabelle Frohne-Hagemann deals with the more recent developments in Germany of this psycho- and music therapeutic method developed by Helen Bonny in the USA. Different authors reflect in 14 chapters on theoretical and practical positions exemplifying them with the help of case studies and showing by that the further development of GIM since its beginnings.

The starting point for this paper is a three-month project, which aims to try out percussion-based group improvisations in nursing homes. The experience during this project as well as its detailed course will be presented in the practical part of the paper. Prior to this the theoretical principles leading to a better understanding of the project and its underlying therapeutic work will be explained. These include an overview of the frame drum as a central instrument, the significance of making music and thereby considering in particular the rhythmic element, as well as basic observations and reflections, which aim to examine the influence of reciprocal resonances in the therapeutic work with elderly people.

Der Musizierprozess des Elementaren Musizierens wird als künstlerischer Prozess angesehen, unabhängig davon, wer daran teilnimmt. Alle Beteiligten können mit ihren eingebrachten individuellen Fähigkeiten und Erfahrungen „bedingungslos“, d.h. ohne vorangehendes „Musiklernen“, herausragende Musiziermomente zustande bringen. Das Elementare Musizieren dient also weder als Vorbereitung für nachfolgendes „richtiges” Musizieren noch ist es auf Kinder eingeschränkt, sondern es hat seinen Wert als eigene Musizierform und ist für Menschen in jedem Alter möglich. Das Buch beschreibt die Wirklichkeit des Elementaren Musizierens, wie sie seit über zwei Jahrzehnten an der Musikuniversität in Wien entwickelt und praktiziert wird. Es gibt eine Fülle von Anregungen zur Ausrichtung jeglichen Musikunterrichts auf „wirkliche“ elementare Musizierprozesse. Für die Lehrenden der Elementaren Musikpädagogik bietet es darüber hinaus nützliche Argumentationshilfen, wenn es darum geht zu erläutern, was das Elementare Musizieren ausmacht. Das Buch entwirft ein umfassendes Konzept des Elementaren Musizierens als musikalisch-künstlerische Praxis der Elementaren Musikpädagogik.

The theme of this book is presented in chapters covering basic principles in theory and practice. Three individuals with a hearing impairment report on their development, experience and personal approaches to music. These are followed by chapters on developmental topics, an overview of music in education and therapy, and insight into recent research on music perception. Different educational and therapeutic approaches using music and/or movement relevant to different age groups are described and extended in reports on music and movement with various groups – from preschool children and family projects, to school children and teenagers.