Music therapy practices are often improvisatory and collaborative in nature, emerging through spontaneous play between participants and therapist. In music therapy sessions, people make, listen to, and engage in music together. As such, everyday music therapy practice can be unpredictable, vibrant, and demanding of a particular resourcefulness by all involved.

A further resourcefulness is required in considering research approaches in music therapy practice. Epistemological and methodological frameworks that may be perceived as rigorous and academically, or institutionally acceptable may not be congruent with the practices being researched. How can practitioners and researchers understand such potential misalignments, and how might all involved in research adopt a practice turn, aligning research with the people, places, and events through which music therapy emerges?

This presentation addresses these questions from the perspective of everyday practice. I draw on snapshots of practice, ranging from NHS children’s services to community based groupwork with people living with dementia and their companions, to consider a number of questions for those involved in practice, research, or both: how do we develop research with those we work with, how might we understand what matters to whom, and what might social impact look like when practice and research are creatively aligned?

Speaker: Claire Flower