At first consideration, music therapy would seem to be apolitical, a humanitarian discipline applicable and relevant to all persons, in all nations, regardless of political and cultural boundaries. However, the fact is that music therapy is inevitably influenced by many political factors. First of all, we must recognize that, for example, just as there are many nations that pursue their own national agendas while being loosely unified under the United Nations, there are also many national music therapy associations around the world that are equally autonomous in their pursuits, while still functioning under the umbrella of the World Federation of Music Therapy. National economic and political conditions have a direct impact upon the availability of the requisite support for music therapy services, thereby determining who will receive music therapy, as well as creating circumstances that may contribute to some of the very kinds of problems that music therapy addresses.
Recent examples of the confluence of politics and music therapy would include the terrorist attacks in the United States, the bombing in Oklahoma City and the events of last September 11. In response to these crises, music therapists came to the aid of survivors and relatives of the victims. This was a music therapy response to politically motivated violence resulting in needed music therapy services for many persons.
In countries such as Bosnia-Herzegovina almost every person has suffered some level of post-traumatic stress due to years of exposure to war. Music therapists are now serving in Bosnia, as exemplified in the work of the Pavarotti Center in Mostar which provides music therapy services for war traumatized children. Music therapists are becoming increasingly involved in volunteer work in war-torn and developing countries and the growing need for this was brought out in several presentations at the last World Congress of Music Therapy in Oxford.
Even the traumas of terrorism in America and the Balkans are dwarfed by the specter of political tensions between India and Pakistan, recently at the brink of nuclear war. If such a war would take place, it is estimated that twelve million people would die in the first blast and many more then that would become ill and homeless. How could music therapists fail to respond to such an unthinkable event, should it occur? The sad fact is that there are approximately 40 regional wars taking place in the world at this time, each of which are creating calamitous conditions for the resident populations that call for therapeutic interventions.
In more affluent countries, as in the United States, Latin America and many European and Asian countries, with their numerous university training programs and career opportunities in music therapy, along with their high national standards of healthcare, music therapy has optimal possibilities of reaching a substantial number of clients. By contrast, in some developing nations, where even the most minimal standards of nutrition, shelter and healthcare are not being met, music therapy is perceived as non-essential and is not provided. Therefore, as music therapists, we cannot, and perhaps should not, try to escape the fact that our role is shaped by our political contexts. And, along with this, comes the obligation of assuming a level of political responsibility.
America appears to be presently in the planning stages of a pre-emptive attack against Iraq. If this should be carried out, we can be sure that a defensive Iraqi retaliation would take the form of biological, chemical and even nuclear warfare. This would lead to thousands of casualties, as well as traumatize the survivors of this conflagration. As music therapists, can we maintain neutrality on such vital issues? As Edith Boxill, founder of Music Therapists for Peace has eloquently stated, we may value music therapy, but what if there was no world left in which to practice it? Unfortunately, this has become more than a rhetorical question.
So, what about music therapy in the White House? This could be taken as a metaphor for a music therapy public relations event in Washington D.C., or perhaps as an initiative along the lines of the highly effective lobbying of the former NAMT that led to the successful senate hearings on music therapy for the aged and the appropriation of federal grant funding for needed research in this important area. But, what about music therapy for the primary resident of the presidential mansion? It is unlikely that such access would ever be provided, but in theory, could music therapy be of value for President George Bush and perhaps subsequently have a positive impact on the course of world events? Certainly music therapy is not limited to treating ill persons, and can also serve to enhance the personal growth and psychological development of healthy clients as well.
If I were the White House music therapist, I would probably work with President Bush utilizing GIM, making use of supportive music drawn from his evangelistic Christian background. My goal would be to try to expand Bush's apparent humanitarian and spiritual sensibilities in the direction of a more inclusive vision, in the hope of softening his tendencies to characterize the world in rigid divisions of good and evil. This simplistic approach easily leads to the demonization of the other, and ultimately to war. Music therapy might help the president to look towards more creative and non-violent forms of conflict resolution. And, is he perhaps also trying to carry out the unfinished business of an adored father? There might be a lot to work on there.
What about Saddam Hussein in music therapy? If all the reports about his sociopathic personality are credible, than he would certainly be a most resistant client! I would see the primary goal of music therapy for Saddam as involving him musically in ways that might ignite sparks of any latent human sensitivity he seems to have repressed in service of his outwardly aggressive persona. In fact, despite the well known atrocities carried out under his authority, there are other sides to the man. In The New York Times, B. Kristof recently reported that Hussein is, surprisingly, "Iraq's best-selling author" and "a poet who enjoys strumming the lute and is passionate about Hemingway. He is a patron of the arts, with a fine appreciation for modern painting, sculpture and architecture. 1 These aesthetic sensibilities certainly don't negate his terrible deeds, but they do point to the fact that he is not without sensitivities, musical and artistic, and therefore a person who might well be responsive to and benefit from music and art therapy.
It's perhaps worth remembering that even some of history's most infamous mass murderers, such as Josef Mengele, the Nazi doctor in Auschwitz, were great lovers of classical music, and yet Mengele was directly responsible for the deaths of 400,000 people. Music didn't sensitize Mengele to the atrocities he carried out, but perhaps it could have if it had been presented by a music therapist in a clinical context, and the same possibilities should be applicable to Saddam Hussein.
I think it's important to avoid any tendency to become desensitized to the plight of the Iraqi people, and to somehow associate them with the faults of their current leader. As in most countries, the ordinary Iraqi citizens have little to say about their government's actions. As reported in another recent New York Times article, Baghdad was formerly a thriving cultural metropolis, although all of this has deteriorated since the 1980s, the period of the eight-year Iran-Iraq war. In fact, there is still an Iraqi National Symphony Orchestra. Founded in 1950 it is now foundering, as most of the best musicians have left the country, and virtually all of the current players need to hold two jobs in order to survive. However, even in the current period of crisis the orchestra still manages to perform monthly concerts. To their faithful audiences, these concerts are something to hold onto, a moment of escape and respite from the fear of yet another impending war.
In recent performances, more often than not, there have been power outages in Baghdad, throwing the hall into darkness and obliging the musicians to play with candles on their stands to illuminate the music. Emad Jamil, tenor soloist in a recent candle-lit performance of the Agnus Dei from Bizet's "L'Arlesienne," noted that "We might as well have been playing in Bach's time." Further, referring to the therapeutic and sustaining value of music-making, he went on to say that "But at least I could forget myself in the music. For a short period of time it was nothing but music. It is very hard living with the thought that soon we will have another war."
The orchestra's conductor, Abdul Razak al-Alawai, said "In life, sorrow tends to last just a little longer than joy. So we try to just touch the joy to alleviate the sorrow." Al-Alawai lost his son and daughter of elementary school age when his home took a direct hit from an Iranian missile in 1985.2
Music sustains people, but only people can prevent war from happening. No one has dictated that music therapy applications should be limited to the clinic, and I believe that our profession should serve as a political force in support of world peace. The work of such visionaries as Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King have shown us that a deeply held philosophy of non-violence can lead to dramatic social change, such as the independence of India and the end of racial segregation in America.
There are approximately 15,000 music therapists in the world today. If we would join forces with the broader music community, we could create a potent and viable force for helping make our world a more peaceful place for ourselves and for future generations.
1 Kristof, B. (2002, October 8). An Iraqui man of letters. The New York Times. P. B5.
2 MacFarquhar, N. (2002, December 22). In Baghdad, there's little romance in music by candlelight. The New York Times. P. A1.
Voice Postings Response: Music Therapy in the White House
I found this posting quite interesting and so relevant to the present times. Ironically the first time I read this posting was a month before the United States Presidential Election, and I thought what perfect timing! Let me explain why I feel this is such an important topic of discussion by giving some background about myself. I am an undergraduate music therapy student at Georgia College & State University. I am twenty-two years old and fairly new to the political world. I just voted in my first Presidential election and all the issues at hand overwhelmed me. I had to consider things that are important to me as a student and also as a future music therapist. During my personal research on the candidates up for elections, I asked around for other people's opinions. I wanted to know what was important to other people and how these potential new leaders were addressing their issues. I became quite despondent when many of the people I asked couldn't give me informative answers. It seemed many people were voting for a certain political party and not for issues. In my opinion that is an ignorant and uniformed vote, and I hold these people politically responsible. Interestingly enough most of these answers were coming from working adults. It seems that usually young people are usually stereotyped as being uninformed and uninterested. In our country there are a myriad of opportunities for people to learn and educate themselves about candidates, laws, and changes taking place. On this level of political agenda I find every American responsible for making themselves active and interested in what they can do politically to help their own standard of living.
I think at this point in my life I am beginning to become aware just how important being politically responsible is. The more we learn, the more we realize that all these little decisions made by senators, and mayors affects our every day lives on so many different levels including educational, employment, healthcare, quality of life and I could go on and on. As a budding music therapist I also begin to see just how much my future career depends on my own political awareness and decisions. As music therapists we have to secure our own career. Although it has been an established profession for over 30 years, we still have to strive to educate our leaders and help them understand that music therapy is valuable and does make a difference. Just like Moreno said, the political aspects of our country depends where we work, whom we will work with, and who will receive our services. I have already experienced the role of politics in my life a student. Since I've been enrolled in college I have received the HOPE scholarship from the state of Georgia. This has been great for me, as it pays for tuition at any public Georgia College.
In a worldwide context music therapists can contribute so much! In my very first music therapy class and every one since we've have been taught that music heals and music connects people together. Music is a universal tool, and we can use that to our advantage. I had no idea until reading Moreno's posting that there a about 40 regional wars taking place, and that is hard for me to believe. I pose this question: If at least 50% of the world received music therapy on an individual and group setting would there be less war? I'd like to believe so. How could this be accomplished? What can we do as music therapists to contribute? What can we as students do to contribute? Most of you all know what it is like to be a student.... strapped for cash! Our profession doesn't make a large amount of money anyway. Therefore it's hard to travel to these countries to promote music therapy, and provide services. Even so, there are things we can do inside our own country to contribute such as being POLITICALLY ACTIVE!
In the second half of the Moreno's posting I found his theories quite humorous. Even though I laughed at the idea, I really think both President Bush and Hussein could benefit from music therapy. The spider web effect throughout our country and the world would be tremendous. Now, with President Bush being re-elected, I'm sure all of us are interested in what he will do to regain support from other countries. The next four years will pose many questions about our country and world peace. If perhaps, like Moreno suggested, President Bush received music therapy services could we be out of a war? Could our nation be secured through non-violent measures? What would it say to the rest of the world if our political leader believes in music therapy and is helped by it? These are all questions that affect all of us. Maybe one day we will see music therapy in the white house. It all depends on if we choose to become politically responsible for our own world.