There's Something New in Music Therapy in Germany
Introduction
The French sociologist and world human being Claude Lévi-Strauss wrote about cold and hot societies in the history of mankind. In cold societies the truth is what the parents say so it follows that there are very small changes in the values and norms of social life. In hot societies the truth is developed by every new generation and even by every individual so there are many ongoing changes in the values and norms of social life. Currently in Germany we are indeed in a hot phase of a hot society. Change is happening very quickly. Since my 2003 article about music therapy in Germany the following shifts and developments have taken place:
Historical Details, Professional Status and International Networks
In 2003 I wrote about the Kassel conference which initiated the organization of all six German professional music therapy associations and of the two organizations of university and private training courses in Germany under one umbrella organization. This new larger organization - under which the eight associations still exist - is known as Bundesarbeitsgemeinschaft Musiktherapie: BAG Musiktherapie (Federal Association of Music Therapy). You can find it on the net at www.bag-musiktherapie.de where you can read our common definition of music therapy in Germany, our minimal standards of training courses in music therapy, the application of music therapy in Germany which have broadened considerably (even beyond psychiatry), and our code of ethics. With these new steps both trained and non-trained music therapists in Germany can be more and more differentiated, which greatly improves the standard of clinical practice in music therapy. At this time there are 2000 trained music therapists organized within the associations of the BAG Musiktherapie. Moreover, three of the six professional organisations will unify this year. Over the last two years one particular group of the BAG Musiktherapie worked very hard for the professional status of music therapy in Germany and has managed to have music therapy accepted onto the official lists for clinical indications utilizing music and art therapy for seven clinical disorders. This group of music therapists combined forces with all the art therapists’ associations in Germany to achieve this goal. We are now working on the next ICD 10-disorders. Our international networks were also very important in this work. For being included onto the official lists of indications for clinical practice we needed evidence based proof for the effectiveness of music therapy. Most data was gathered from the US, Austria, Denmark and Norway, and and these international research outcomes were accepted. We Germans are appreciative of the help we received from all over the world.
With regards to clinical practice I mentioned previously that the application of music therapy had broadened considerably. One example of this is in music therapy with the elderly. New kinds of music therapy centres for out-patients have been created in this field. There are “Musik auf Rädern” (music on wheels) and “Grammophon – Mobile Musiktherapie” in Münster and in Magdeburg (www.musikaufraedern.de and www.grammophon-mm.de ). They offer music therapy services for private customers and nursing homes. “Musik auf Rädern” has opened offices all over Germany (working with franchising). It is a new business and provides an opportunity for young music therapists to work with other music therapists rather than in isolation. Initiatives such as these have shown immense creativity in creating new jobs for music therapists in Germany.
Music Therapy Training and Europe
Another international issue exists in the form of the Bologna-Process which concerns the standardization of academic degrees in Europe. A Bachelors or Masters degree should be the standard for music therapy practice in Europe. Previously we had different academic degrees in each European country that were tied to very old academic traditions. With the Bologna-Process we now have a standardized Diplom-Musiktherapeut/in (FH) and Diplom-Musiktherapeut/in. All university courses had to be changed to fit into these two European Bachelor and Master degrees. This process has had both advantages and disadvantages. In terms of the latter, my list of training courses in Germany in 2003 had 20 institutes on it whereas at this point 50 % of the undergraduate courses in music therapy from that list are now gone. The University of Applied Sciences of Magdeburg and Stendal had to change from an undergraduate course into a Masters course. Moreover, the new Masters degree at the University of Witten and Herdecke has to move to another university. Seven of the eleven private courses in music therapy have been organized with common standards as members of the above mentioned BAG Musiktherapie. Whether or not the course at the University of Köln will continue or not remains uncertain. On the upside, the University of Applied Sciences of Heidelberg offers now an undergraduate and a Masters degree. Another advantage of the new standard is that the trial course in music therapy of the University of Music of Nuernberg and Augsburg moved this year to the University of Augsburg and now regularly offers a Masters degree in music therapy. The University of Applied Sciences of Wuerzburg and Schweinfurt just started a new course within an undergraduate course of social work (like a double degree). With the new European degrees the universities in Berlin, Frankfurt and Hamburg now offer Masters courses while the universities in Hamburg, Mnster and Witten-Herdecke now offer Doctoral courses. All other universities offer these opportunities in cooperation with other faculties. So you can see, especially with regard to university training courses in Germany plenty of change is happening.
Research and More
At this time we have about 450 German books on music therapy. This shows that the research I described in 2003 is continuing on very well. However, don't have enough post-doc positions in music therapy research or enough research centres with interdisciplinary research or money for bigger projects (of i.e. 10-20 postgraduate research positions). These are areas we must develop in the coming years. We must also continue working to develop international networks and bring together research resources for the benefit of our clients and our areas of specialty in music therapy. One place for discussing this and bringing our university projects and resources together was this year’s 20th Ulm conference. In 2009 this conference will take place in Augsburg. This was also a very important step for in Ulm; this conference was chaired by the famous Professor of psychotherapy Horst Kchele. In Augsburg it will be chaired by the two professors of music therapy from the University of Augsburg. Music Therapy in Germany continues to broaden its interdisciplinary and international research connections, as well as working together with related disciples. From being a part of another science, music therapy is now emerging as a discipline in its own right.
How to cite this page
Wosch, Thomas (2007). There's Something New in Music Therapy in Germany. Voices Resources. Retrieved January 11, 2015, from http://testvoices.uib.no/community/?q=country/monthgermany_may2008
