Musc Therapy in Denmark

Introduction

2007 marks the 25th anniversary of the Music Therapy Training program in Aalborg University, so this is a good time for examining the status of music therapy in Denmark. It is also a time of transition, mostly for the good, I think, but it includes many new challenges for educators, researchers and clinicians. There is a valuable sense of continuity in the history of music therapy in Denmark. A symbolic proof of this continuity was last year's release of the multimedia project A World of Sound of Music presenting the pioneering life work of music therapist Claus Bang on two double-layered DVDs (Bang 2006). The material includes documentation of more than 30 years of clinical work with - and research into - music therapy with the hearing impaired. Claus Bang is presently working on an international web-based version of the project, planned for release in the autumn of 2007 (www.clausbang.com).

History

The modern history of music therapy in Denmark can be divided into three phases (Bonde 2007):

  1. The phase of pioneers (1950-1982).
  2. The development and formation of training and theory (1982-1995).
  3. Consolidation, expansion and the fight for recognition (1996 to present).

Phase One

The first phase from the 1950s to the early 1980s was dominated by a dozen pioneers who developed music therapy practice independently within several clinical areas. C.M. Savery, Frode Bavnild, Carlo Svendsen, Claus Bang, Gunnar Heerup, Ole Bentzen, Søren Mühlhausen, Synnøve Friis, Grethe Lund, Merete Birkebæk and Anne Lise Dyhr developed and adapted the use of music activities and experiences in special education, for children with special needs, for the elderly and for psychiatric patients. Their exchange of ideas resulted in the creation of the first Danish music therapy society Dansk Forbund for Pædagogisk Musikterapi (DFMT) in 1969 (Svendsen 1973). Danish music therapy focused in the early years on the potential of music activities in special education, with music as a means of enhancing and supporting learning and cognitive development (Holten 1989). A more psychodynamic and psychotherapeutic orientation was developed later, in the second phase. Danish music therapy was also influenced by pioneers from other countries, especially the US. Paul Nordoff and Clive Robbins visited Denmark on several occasions and introduced their Creative Music Therapy model in lectures and workshops. The Danish community resonated with Nordoff and Robbins' ideas of "the music child" and music's potential of "lifting" a handicapped child to a more functional and dignified level of existence. (Svendsen 1973). Claus Bang published three Nordic translations and arrangements of Nordoff-Robbins' Children's Play-Songs in 1972: Legesange for børn, Sangleker for barn og Sånglekar för barn. (available in Bang, 2006).

During the 1970s, the boundaries of special education and therapy were blurring. DFMT excluded the adjective "pedagogical" from its name and redefined its field of interest as "music therapy" in a broader sense: "the use of music in therapeutic and pedagogical contexts where music is the means and never the goal" (Holten 1989). From the early 1970s, DFMT arranged week-long courses on a yearly basis, a popular and valuable opportunity for professionals from diverse fields to learn about music therapy.

Phase Two

In the late 1970s, there was a growing interest in establishing a proper education in music therapy. After five years of discussions and preparations, a four-year Masters training program opened at Aalborg University. Inge Nygaard Pedersen was the first full-time teacher and researcher. Her qualifications were a combination of a Masters degree in musicology, a private training as relaxation teacher and a two year course in music therapy. The latter was the so-called "Mentor Training" in Herdecke, Germany, where Pedersen trained together with Benedikte Barth Scheiby who also became her colleague in Aalborg. The Mentor Training was international and established with the intention of integrating or combining different European models and traditions, especially Analytical Music Therapy and Creative Music Therapy, and with the aim of qualifying the participants to build training programs in their home countries (Eschen, 2002). From this background, the second phase began with the start of the training program in Aalborg (1982) and the next 13 years was dominated by the efforts to form and develop the training, including the formulation of a theoretical platform and principles for research, plus of course efforts to open the Danish health care system for music therapists. Important elements in this process were:

  1. The employment of Tony Wigram as the first ordinary professor in 1992,
  2. the creation of the NorFa Research Network in 1993 as a Nordic framework of the international PhD program in Aalborg, and
  3. the establishment of the Psychiatric Music Therapy Research Clinic at Aalborg Psychiatric Hospital.

The second phase culminated with the 3rd European Music Therapy Conference in Aalborg 1995.

Phase Three

The third phase (in which we are still) began with a consolidation and expansion of the training program (it was expanded from four years to a five year Bachelor + Masters program), an extension of the clinical field into new areas, and a remarkable expansion of the International Graduate School of Music Therapy Research. Phase three is presented in detail below, focusing on training (the new curriculum of 2006), clinical practice and research.

Training

In Denmark there is still only one music therapy training program, namely at Aalborg University. A post-graduate training in GIM is also offered (on a Nordic basis) by primary trainer, Torben Moe PhD. Several descriptions of the Aalborg program - its elements and philosophy, - are available in English (Bonde, 1998; Wigram, Pedersen and Bonde, 2002, chapter 6). I will therefore limit this presentation to a short summary of the background and history of the program up to 2006 and concentrate on a description of the new curriculum and syllabus that have come into force from September 2006, including new entrance criteria.

The Aalborg program is still the only recognised training in Denmark. The 5-year Master's level program qualifies the student in the use of music therapy at a scientific and practical level to work independently for treatment and overall development. Students are also trained to work within multi-disciplinary teams, both internally in their university program, and externally by means of practicum placements in institutions in Denmark or abroad. The program gives equal weight to academic study, personal development, musical training, scientific research methodology and clinical skills. A music therapist needs a broad, un-dogmatic understanding of music - plus knowledge of, and skills within, many types of musical expression and experience. This is why the Aalborg program attaches so much importance to the musical self-experience of the student. In the psychodynamic tradition, self-experience (training analysis) is considered the basis of psychotherapeutic training. In the same way we consider the student's experiences as a "student client" in music therapy (individually as well as in groups) a necessary foundation for his/her development as a "student therapist." The mandatory therapy training/self-experience was controversial from the very beginning. It is very different from traditional university learning models (and unique even in the Danish system), and the inclusion of this training in the program is still controversial from an international perspective. In spite of poorer economic conditions, the training therapy (including practicum periods) is maintained as a mandatory element in the program. It forms the experiential basis for both the training of clinical methods and techniques and for the supervision of clinical practice. The student's therapeutic experiences also inform their study of psychological and psychotherapeutic theory. One unique Aalborg training element is "Clinical group music therapy skills," where students learn to conduct group music therapy through role playing aspects of different clinical populations (Wigram, 1996). In the practicum periods, students learn to observe experienced music therapists at work and gradually they develop skills in organizing and conducting their own clinical work with clients in psychiatric or special education institutions.

New Curriculum 2006

From Autumn 2006, a new curriculum was developed for both the Bachelors and the Masters program. The curriculum was also influenced by the fact that the music therapy program from 2006 belongs to the Department of Communication and Psychology at AAU, enabling a certain degree of course collaboration. The revision was caused by severe economic budget cuts in the faculty of Humanities, but the music therapy teachers' group chose to interpret this as an opportunity to re-construct the program on a new premise. It was no longer possible to maintain solo teaching in piano and voice and this made us change the entrance criteria as follows: The applicant must now demonstrate command of both a first study instrument (including voice) and a harmony instrument (guitar, piano or accordion). There is no longer solo teaching of musical skills; instead the students are required to build a repertoire for performance on their first study instrument during the first two semesters. The curriculum underlines the importance of improvisation skills, and the improvisation courses begin early in the second semester. In this way the Aalborg program is closer to the entrance criteria of many other (postgraduate) European programs.

The Entrance Test

The Aalborg training program attaches importance to advanced musical skills and expressive potential in song, piano and ear training plus the personal maturity and the realistic motivation necessary for a therapy student. The applicant must demonstrate command of his/her first study instrument through the performance of a prepared solo piece plus prima vista tasks. He/she must also sing a prepared song, by heart and without accompaniment (i.e. a Danish song, a jazz ballad or a hymn), and it should be performed in tune, with expression and in style. Command of the harmony instrument is demonstrated through exercises in accompaniment (figuration, chord playing). A solfege round tests the applicant's skills in identifying chord types, number of tones in a cluster/chord, melody and rhythm memory and melodic prolongation in different styles. The expressive potential, musical imagination and improvisatory skills are tested in three improvisations:

  1. A piano duet with a professor on a selected theme, i.e. "In the jungle."
  2. A voice and body improvisation - an improvised solo on a selected poem or a painting.
  3. A clinical improvisation role-play - a dialogue on mallet instruments with a professor, who plays "the client," while the applicant plays "the music therapist."

The duration of the full test is minimum 50 minutes, and the final element is a dialogue between the applicant and the professors on the applicant's motivation and knowledge of music therapy in theory and practice.

Thus the demands at the entrance test are high, but also realistic as measured to the limited teaching resources. 10-12 applicants are accepted per year, and since 1986 round 135 candidates have completed the training to a Master's degree. Since the course is taught in Danish, the program requires formal qualifications in Danish. The entrance test and formal requirements are described in further detail on the homepage of the program: http://www.musikterapi.aau.dk - e-mail can be sent to: studievejl@aua.aau.dk

The New Curriculum

Table 1: The Music Therapy Program at Aalborg University, Denmark. An overview
Semester The THEORY track (Courses+PBL-based Projects*) The MUSIC track - including applied skills (Teaching in dyads or groups) The THERAPY track (incl practicum)
A. THE BACHELOR PROGRAM (3 YEARS FULL TIME)
1 Music and Humanity:
Introduction to the psychology of music
Practical musicianship skills 1: Harmony instrument+Auditory skills (H&A)
Practical musicianship skills 2: Musical ensemble skills Vocal Perf. skills
First study instrument 1: Repertoire & Performance
First study instrument 3: Intuitive performance
Relation competencies with body and voice
Group Music Therapy
2 Observation and description of clinical MT practice (related to Obs. Practcum) Practical musicianship skills 1: HA and 2: Musical ensemble skills
First study instrument 1: Repertoire & Performance
First study instrument 2: Improvisation Vocal Perf. skills
Group Music Therapy
Observation practicum (4 weeks)
3 Personality and Developmental psychology ** Practical musicianship skills 1: HA and 2: Musical ensemble skills
First study instrument 2: Improvisation Vocal Perf. skills
Group (Music) Therapy
4 Music Therapy Theory I: MT in somatic hospitals
Research Methodology I**
Practical musicianship skills 2: Musical ensemble skills
Vocal Perf. Skills /Auditory analysis / Relation competencies: body and voice
First study instrument 3: Intuitive performance
5 Music Therapy Theory II: MT for persons with special needs
[Music in special education***]
Clinical group music therapy skills Auditory analysis
Relation competencies with body and voice [MT Songwriting**]
6 Music Therapy Theory III: MT in Psychiatry Clinical group music therapy skills Practicum (Obs. + 1 day in 10 weeks) Group supervision
B. THE MASTERS PROGRAM (2 YEARS FULL TIME)
7 Advanced MT theory and research (1)
[Music and Identity***]
Clinical application of first study instrument and piano Individual music therapy
Psychodynamic group leading
8 Advanced MT theory and research (2) Clinical application of first study instrument and piano Intertherapy
[GIM level 1***]
9 Presentation of music therapy practice (based on practicum) Practicum (4 months)
Supervision (individual+group)
10 Masters thesis
*PBL: Problem Based Learning ** Courses in the Psychology dept. [*** Elective courses]

Table 1 illustrates the three "pillars" or tracks of the Aalborg program. This structure has been maintained since 1982, but the content of each track has changed several times, most radically in 2006.

In the "theory track" each of the first six semesters has its specific theoretical topic or frame. There are two equally important elements: theoretical courses, where the students are given a broad introduction to and (hopefully) an overview of the field; and independent project work, where the students in small groups (two to four students, from 4th semester also individually) define and investigate a specific and self-imposed problem within the semester frame. The chain of topics is multi-disciplinary, and gradually focus is narrowed down to the specific problems of music therapy theory and research. Project work is used in almost every semester, as a special learning framework. Problem-solving group work is a distinctive pedagogical mark of Aalborg University and is recognized internationally as an advanced learning strategy. Project work is a way of organising this dynamic process of inquiry. At its best, the students develop good cooperation skills, while they study a relevant professional or theoretical problem independently, thoroughly and seriously. The masters thesis is the student's 'final project'. Most students write the thesis individually - as systematic and scientifically founded reflections on their clinical work in their nine-semester practicum. The Master's thesis is also problem-oriented - whether it is a case study, a theoretical discussion or a carefully designed research study - and many of the theses are important contributions to the development of music therapy.

The "music track" is now dominated by courses in improvisation on and intuitive use of the student's first study instrument, accompanied by voice training, harmony instrument training and ensemble playing and arrangement.

The "therapy track" is a mandatory element and the cornerstone of the development of the student's identity as a music therapist. In the new Bachelor curriculum there is group music therapy training in the first three semesters, focusing both on the individual in the group and the more complex group dynamics. Verbal group therapy is included in the training. There are two practicum periods: an observation practicum of four weeks in the second semester, and a one-day practicum (ten weeks) in the sixth semester. In the Master's curriculum, qualifying the student as a psychotherapist, there is individual music therapy in one semester, training in psychodynamic group leading and inter-therapy in two consecutive semesters. The inter-therapy training is based on Mary Priestley's ideas (Priestley, 1994) and a very important element in the development of the student's identity as a music therapist. Finally there is a whole practicum semester, including individual and group supervision.

Until 1998 the Aalborg program focused on music therapy practice based on clinical improvisation - i.e. "active music therapy." Receptive techniques played a minor role in the training. This was changed in 1998 with the inclusion of the Introductory GIM training (level one of the training in The Bonny Method of Guided Imagery and Music) in the Masters program. An experiential technique like GIM fits very well into the program, as it has always - as one of the very few training programs in the world - had a self-experiential base. The meta-theory and theory of consciousness in GIM goes also well together with the content of the theoretical courses.

The GIM Training

Music therapist, Torben Moe PhD was the first (and still the only) GIM primary trainer in Denmark. He and five other Danes completed their GIM training in programs abroad. The Danish GIM training began in 2000 and was the first in the world using the vernacular language (Danish, Norwegian) instead of English. The first training group included 6 Danes and 6 Norwegians, while the second included 6 Danes and one Swede. The Danish GIM Society was founded in 1997, and has round 25 members. The present chair is Bolette Daniels Beck. The society offers an annual workshop and a comprehensive website www.gimterapi.dk. Level 1 of the GIM course is integrated in the Aalborg program, from 2007 as an optional choice for Master's students. Students may later enter level two and three of the Danish GIM training program.

Associations

There are two Danish associations:

Dansk Forbund for Musikterapi (DFMT) www.dansk-forbund-for-musikterapi.dk

DFMT is the oldest association or society, founded in 1969 and open to all people with an interest in music therapy. DFMT offers annual short-time music therapy courses for professionals in related fields, i.e. music teachers, nurses, occupational therapists etc. who include music and musical activities in their work with pupils, clients or patients. The purpose of the courses is not to train participants as music therapists, but to teach techniques, methods, theories and interventions relevant and easily applicable in a particular field. DFMT has currently round 200 members. The chair is Johan Andersen.

Musikterapeuternes Landsklub (MTL) www.musikterapi.org

Music therapists trained in Aalborg are unionised in Dansk Magisterforening (DM; The Danish Union of Academics). After some years of confusion concerning the professional organization the professional music therapists formed their first professional club in 1992 - Landsklubben af Musikterapeuter (LAM) - supported by DM. LAM changed its name to MTL in 1997. MTL is open to music therapists with a Bachelors, Masters or PhD degree in music therapy who agree to follow the specific codes of ethics related to the profession.. At present there are about 100 members. MTL is the arranger of an annual meeting and course or workshop; it provides services to networks and working parties and works for the official stately recognition of Danish music therapists. The present chair is Hanne Mette Ochsner Ridder, who is also the appointed Danish EMTC delegate..

The two associations work together on two issues: the organization of national conferences (the 1st in 2000, the 2nd in 2003) and the publication of the journal Dansk Musikterapi.

Journals

musik&terapi was published by DFMT from 1974 to 2004 with two annual issues and publicly available. The typical content was two or three articles or interviews on practice and (occasionally) theory within clinical areas relevant to the members, including translations of articles from foreign journals.

Fermaten was published from 1993 to 2004 by MTL, with 4 annual issues and for members only. The content was a mix of short articles (primarily reports from clinical practice), book reviews, information on further education and relevant courses plus member news. A more ambitious journal Dansk Akademisk Tidsskrift for Musikterapi appeared only a few times (1990-1992).

Dansk musikterapi is a primary result of the fertile collaboration between DFMT and MTL. It is a true professional journal edited by a committee of 6 members appointed by the associations. The first issue was published in the autumn of 2004, and there are two annual issues. The typical content is 2-3 original papers, mostly with a clinical focus, a comprehensive interview with one of the Danish pioneers, information on new Danish research, and book reviews.

Danish contributions are also found on a regular basis in Nordic Journal of Music Therapy www.njmt.no.

Clinical Practice

There is no official or recognized definition of music therapy in Denmark. Clinicians are informed by the very broad, inclusive and a-theoretical WFMT definition from 1996, but they often define their own practice in their specific context. The training program is informed by Bruscia's psychodynamic definition "Music therapy is a systematic process of intervention wherein the therapist helps the client to promote health, using music experiences and the relationships that develops through them as dynamic forces of change" (Bruscia, 1998).

In the first Danish handbook of music therapy (Bonde, Pedersen & Wigram, 2001) the following clinical music therapy areas were listed and described: eldercare (including dementia and Alzheimer), children with special needs (including the autistic spectrum, communication deficits and developmental problems), paediatrics, psychiatry (schizophrenia and personality disorders, inpatients and outpatients), special education, deaf and hearing impaired children and adolescents, milieu therapy, social treatment and self-development (personal and spiritual development through music psychotherapy).

In recent years the following areas have been added: refugees (including PTSD), somatic problems (cardiac and cancer patients), child and youth psychiatry, family therapy, drug addiction, neurological impairments, palliative and hospice care (pain management and psychosocial support). Additionally, a few music therapists drive private practices (see Dansk Musikterapi 1(1), 2004). Many new areas have been explored by students in their nine-semester practicum. The students have a free choice of placement, and they often enter new areas as pioneers. In several cases, they have been later offered a position by the institution or employer, based on their skilled practicum performance.

Theoretical Foundations

As observed above, there is no official definition of music therapy in Denmark, and there is no state governed protection of the title music therapist. However, music therapists trained in Aalborg are MA qualified candidates in music therapy, and this distinguishes them from "self-made" music therapists.

The training program was founded on a broad psychodynamic and humanistic basis, with a rather eclectic approach, since the founder Inge Nygaard and her colleague Benedikte Scheiby brought inspiring and fertile epistemological questions and controversies to the new program in Aalborg from their Herdecke training course (Kortegaard & Pedersen, 1993; Eschen, 2002; Wigram, Pedersen & Bonde, 2002, p. 29-30): for example, is man primarily a spiritual or a social being? Is music primarily an aesthetic expression following its own specific rules, or is music a symbolic expression of human emotions and psychological states?

During the first 10 years, the Aalborg program had a primary orientation towards the German/Central European Music Therapy tradition, which is essentially psychodynamic and humanistic-existential. During the nineties, the scope of the training program broadened; the Anglo-American traditions of behaviourism and positivism were included as elements in the curriculum. The program acknowledges current international practice of using multiple paradigms within the field of music therapy. However, the Aalborg program's concept of music and the human being is still humanistic, and the psychodynamic tradition is considered important and appropriate, and it serves as a useful framework for a theoretical understanding of a variety of pathologies and client problems, as well as a basis for the development of a therapeutic identity. Thus, the therapeutic relationship (the therapeutic triangle of client-music-therapist) is considered the dynamic core of the therapeutic process.

In the first years of the Graduate School, all studies were based on qualitative research methods. Gradually quantitative studies were included and in recent years, mixed methods studies have become common. Thus, the Graduate School embraces and invites all types of clinical research, and meta-theoretical discussions are an integral part of both the milieu and every single study.

Research and Future Trends

An overview of research projects and publications up to 2001 can be found in Wigram, Pedersen & Bonde (2002, section 5.2 + References). The reference section of this article lists publications from 2002 - present, however only publications by Danish researchers in English and German are included. Bonde (2004) is a bibliography on music therapy literature in Danish. This bibliography and the corresponding EndNote database are available from lobo@hum.aau.dk.

The Graduate School in Music Therapy at Aalborg University is not only a research training program; it is also the framework of an impressive and diverse culture of research. The program philosophy is outlined and completed research studies by PhD candidates up to 2001 are annotated in Wigram, Pedersen & Bonde (2002, p. 235-245). The references section of this article lists 9 further completed PhD dissertations from 2002-2006. A complete list of past and present PhD students, their dissertations and projects can be found at www.musikterapi.aau.dk/forskerskolen_index.htm together with information on requirements, board members and other subjects..

The Graduate School has so far the notable completion rate of 100%, and many of the candidates have later found employment in music therapy training programs in Europe or abroad. This remarkable success is partly due to the unique qualities of Professor Tony Wigram's program coordination during 10 years, partly to the supervision procedure and training culture. There is a week-long training course every semester, including not only PhD defenses and guest lectures by distinguished international scholars, but also open supervisions, where the PhD students present the state of their study and receive feedback from guest teachers, board members and fellow students. Clinical research projects are welcome irrespective of paradigm , and in recent years research based on mixed methods has become common.

Another research center is the Music Therapy Clinic at Aalborg Psychiatric Hospital (official Danish name: Musikterapiklinikken - Center for behandling og forskning www.musikterapi.aau.dk/klinikken.htm ). The center is a collaboration between Aalborg University and Aalborg Psychiatric Hospital, established in 1994. The leader is Professor Inge Nygaard Pedersen. Three music therapists/researchers and two research assistants/clinicians contribute to this ongoing work of documenting how psychiatric patients can benefit from music therapy. Regular publications - to date, four yearbooks (1998, 2000, 2002 (Holck, 2002), 2005 (Ridder, 2005)) - contribute to the growing recognition of music therapy within this field.

A database including extensive information on publications, research projects and other activities of the Aalborg staff (Tony Wigram, Inge Nygaard Pedersen, Lars Ole Bonde, Niels Hannibal, Ulla Holck and Hanne Mette Ridder) is available at www.vbn.aau.dk.

Future Trends and Wishes

The Graduate School has expanded during the last three to four years with extra grants and economical support to develop the academic supervision dimension of the program. Four Danish music therapist are currently enrolled in the PhD program on three-year full-time basis, while seven music therapists from abroad base their studies on the program's International Scholarships. The first of two planned supervisors' courses was completed in the Autumn of 2005, with more than 20 participants from 8 countries. The official future goals of the Graduate School are the following:

  • Developing the infrastructure of the school through improved resources of access to research tools, literature databases and tools for data analysis.
  • Increasing the quality and length of the existing, bi-annual academic research courses that support the national and international students registered in the Graduate School.
  • Increasing the number of available supervisors (currently there are 12), and developing standards in supervision and examination through supervisor courses.
  • Developing research protocols for the Cochrane International Library and other forms of meta-analysis through post-doctoral research to underpin the applied clinical research of the Graduate School.
  • Co-financed fellowships to extend the research activities of the milieu, and to promote studies on Evidence Based Medicine (EBM) that are currently in focus and required by health services internationally.
  • >

    Like in Norway (Aasgaard & Trondalen 2004) the relationship between music therapy and medicine is still in its infancy in Denmark. There is no tradition of including music therapy or employing music therapists in somatic hospitals, even if some research has been carried out in the field. It is not easy to get access to this area which is still dominated by an exclusive medical paradigm and a pathogenetic understanding of health problems. Further research and clinical projects are necessary to open these heavy doors. A special international initiative must be mentioned here:

    Based on the initiative of Dr. Joanne Loewy, music therapist and head of the music therapy clinic at the Beth Israel Medical Center in New York, a new program called The Louis Armstrong Thanks to Scandinavia Training Program was launched in November 2006. The mission statement of the programs says the following:

    The LA-TTS Training Program in Music Therapy in Medicine will offer training to music therapy students and scholars in the Nordic countries with the aim of enhancing clinical training, theoretical knowledge, research and multi-cultural understanding in music therapy practices in a medical context."

    In other words: every year in the years to come two graduate students and two scholars will have the opportunity to study music psychotherapy in somatic hospitals at Beth Israel. The first two students (one from Aalborg, one from Bergen) have been selected to study in NY from February to April 2007. As Jaakko Erkkil (2006) writes: "This opportunity is very valuable for us, because in Nordic countries we do not have too much music therapy in somatic hospitals." Representatives from the five graduate training programs in the Nordic Countries (Aalborg, Oslo, Bergen, Stockholm, Jyväskylä) are included in the LA-TTS Steering committee. They have decided to work for the creation of a Nordic Summer School of Music Therapy in Medicine from 2008 - to complement the American initiative.

    Finally, Professor Inge Nygaard Pedersen plans to develop a music therapy supervisors' training course. Already in 1993 she wrote that one of the most important future concerns was "the provision of supervision for music therapy practitioners as parts of their jobs" (Kortegaard & Pedersen, 1993, p. 207). Developing such a course will be a cornerstone in Professor Pedersen's future work.

    Music Therapy in Denmark - A Status Summary

    By the end of 2006, 135 students have completed their music therapy training in Aalborg, with a Masters thesis as the final product. The training program is a five year Bachelor + Master's program, qualifying the candidate both professionally and academically. About fifty students are enrolled in the training, and the training employs five full time professors and fifteen part time teachers. Six Danes and nine music therapists from other countries have completed the PhD studies at the International Graduate School and defended their dissertations successfully. Another eleven PhD students are enrolled in the program at the end of 2006. The Music Therapy Clinic at Aalborg Psychiatric Hospital has renewed its contract with the public health care system and continues its clinical and research efforts. Music therapists in psychiatry have developed a national network, while there are other professional networks on a regional basis. MTL has round 100 professional members while DFMT has round 200 members. Music therapists in Denmark work in many different areas, of which the most important are: eldercare (including dementia and Alzheimer), children with special needs (including the autistic spectrum and developmental problems), paediatrics, psychiatry (schizophrenia and personality disorders, inpatients and outpatients), somatic problems (cardiac and cancer patients), refugees, families, neurological impairments, palliative and hospice care (pain management and psychosocial support), special education, social, cognitive and psychological development, sensory stimulation and integration, deaf and hearing impaired children and adolescents, psychotherapy (including personal and spiritual development). A few music therapists run private practices (including one clinic in Aalborg and one in Copenhagen).

    In conclusion, music therapy training and research is, at this point in time, well established and recognized in Denmark. The challenge of the years to come is to obtain an official recognition of music therapy as a health-care profession, making music therapy treatment viable through reimbursement of treatment costs from state or regions.

    References (Publications in English and German 2002-2006)

    Aasgaard, T. & G. Trondalen (2004). Country of the Month: Norway. Voices: A World Forum for Music Therapy. Retrieved December 6th, 2006, from
    http://www.voices.no/country/monthnorway_july2004.html

    Baker, F. & T. Wigram (2004). Finding Climax and Cadence in the Uninflected Voice. Music Therapy Perspectives , 22(1). 4-22.

    Bang, C. (2006). En verden af lyd og musik [A World of Sound and Music]. Multimedieudgivelse. www.clausbang.com

    Bastian, P. (1987). Ind i musikken [Into the Music]. Kbh.: Gyldendal/PubliMus.

    Bonde, L. O. (Ed.) (1999). Special Issue: Music Therapy in Aalborg University. Nordic Journal of Music Therapy 8(2).

    Bonde, L. O. (Ed.) (2002). Special Issue: Guided Imagery and Music - and Beyond? Nordic Journal of Music Therapy 11(2).

    Bonde, L. O. (2002). Theoretical Foundations of Music Therapy: Music as Analogy and Metaphor. In T. Wigram, I. N. Pedersen & L. O. Bonde. A Comprehensive Guide to Music Therapy, pp. 97-111. London: Jessica Kingsley Publishers.

    Bonde, L. O. (2004). Dansk litteratur om musikterapi. En bibliografi. 2. udgave [Danish music therapy literature. A Bibliography. 2nd Editition]. Retrieved January 1, 2007, from www.musikterapi.aau.dk

    Bonde, L. O. (2004). Musik als Co-Therapeutin. Gedanken zum Verhltnis zwischen Musik und Inneren Bildern in The Bonny Method of Guided Imagery and Music (BMGIM). Rezeptive Musiktherapie. Theorie und Praxis. I. Frohne-Hagemann. Wiesbaden, Reichert Verlag: 111-139.

    Bonde, L. O. (2005). Approaches to Researching Music. Music Therapy Research. In Wheeler, B. L. (Ed.) Quantitative and Qualitative Perspectives. 2nd Edition, pp. 489-525.. Gilsum NH: Barcelona Publishers.

    Bonde, L. O. (2005). "Finding a new Place..." Metaphor and Narrative in One Cancer Survivor's BMGIM Threapy. Nordic Journal of Music Therapy 14(2), 137-154.

    Bonde, L. O. (2006). Searching the music therapy literature - using databases and websites. Retrieved January 1, 2007, from www.njmt.no

    Bonde, L. O. (2007, in press). Musikterapi i Danmark, en historisk oversigt [Music therapy in Denmark, a historical overview]. In Darnley-Smith, R. & Patey, H. Musikterapi. Kbh.: Dansk Psykologisk Forlag.

    Bruscia, K.E. (1998). Defining Music Therapy. 2md Edition. Gilsum, NH: Barcelona.

    Cass, H., S. Reilly, L .Owen, A. Wisbeach, L. Weekes, V. Slonims, T. Wigram, T. Charman (2003). Findings from a MultiDisciplinary clinical case series of females
    with Rett Syndrome. Developmental Medicine & Child Oncolog, 45, 325-337.

    Erkkilä, J. (2006). About Nordic Music Therapy Cooperation. Retrieved September 20, 2006, from
    www.njmt.no/forum013_01.html

    Eschen, J. Th. (2002). Analytical Music Therapy. London: Jessica Kingsley Publishers.

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    Gold, C. & T. Wigram (2003). Music therapy for autistic spectrum disorder. The Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews: Protocols 2003 Issue 3 Retrieved from http://www.mrw.interscience.wiley.com/cochrane/clsysrev/articles/CD004381/frame.html

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    PhD Dissertations from the Graduate School of Music Therapy, defended 2002-2006:

    Elefant, C. (2002). Enhancing Communication in Girls with Rett Syndrome through Songs in Music Therapy.

    Holck, U. (2002): "Kommunikalsk" samspil i musikterapi. Kvalitative videoanalyser af musikalske og gestiske interaktioner med børn med betydelige funktionsnedsttelser, herunder børn med autisme ["Commusical" Interplay in Music Therapy. Qualitative Video Analyses of Musical and Gestural Interactions with Children with Severe Functional Limitations, including Children with Autism].

    Aasgaard, T. (2002). Song Creations by Children with Cancer - Process and Meaning.

    Ridder, H. M. O. (2003). Singing Dialogue. Music therapy with persons in advanced stages of dementia. A case study research design.

    Garred, R. (2004) An Inquiry into the Role of Music and of Words in Creative Music Therapy.

    Gold, C. (2004): An analysis of long-term music therapy intervention with mentally ill children and adolescents in Austria.

    Baker, F. (2004): The effects of song singing on the affective intonation of people with traumatic brain injury.

    De Backer, J. (2005) The Transition from Sensorial Play to Musical Form by Psychotic Patients in a Music Therapeutic Process.

    Bonde, L.O. (2005). The Bonny Method of Guided Imagery and Music (BMGIM) with Cancer Survivors. A psychosocial study with focus on the influence of BMGIM on mood and quality of life.

    Kim, J. (2006). Joint attention and attunement in improvisational music therapy with autistic child.

How to cite this page

Bonde, Lars Ole (2007). Musc Therapy in Denmark. Voices Resources. Retrieved January 08, 2015, from http://testvoices.uib.no/community/?q=monthdenmark_january2007