Gudrun Aldridge and David Aldridge  Price:  £22.95 + £2.00 p&p  

Melody is thought to be an 'essential core' of music. In the context of music therapy, looking at how patients develop their own melodies in improvisation can explain how they find their own voice, determine their position in relation to the world, and play an important role in how they relate to their therapist.

Gudrun Aldridge and David Aldridge explore the concept of melody within its historical context and investigate current theories of melody. They make recommendations for choosing an appropriate method of analysing melodic improvisation, and utilise case studies to demonstrate these analyses in practice. They show how the interaction between patient and therapist is affected by the patient's melodic statements, and how the process of improvisation offers patients a chance to transform their inner emotions into externalised expressions.

Melody in Music Therapy is an important addition to music therapy literature, and will be of interest to music therapists, educators and students alike, as well as musicologists.

 The Individualized Music Therapy Assessment Profile

The Individualized Music Therapy Assessment Profile (IMTAP) is an in-depth assessment protocol developed by a team of six experienced music therapists. Designed for use in pediatric and adolescent settings, it provides a clear profile of each client over time. The accompanying CD-ROM allows the therapist to store client details, and to create charts showing progress and areas to work on.

The book includes sample assessment sessions and examples of activities and interventions. The IMTAP may be used on a variety of levels:

as a treatment plan for music therapy work, as a tool to develop goals and objectives, as a means to address and assess, targeted skill sets, as an indicator of overall functioning to provide a baseline for treatment, as a research method, and as a communications tool and healthcare professionals

The IMTAP is simple to use and yields detailed information on client abilities and functioning from intake through treatment planning. It identifies effective strategies for each client, making it an essential tool for students and professionals in the field of music therapy.

Suzanne Darley and Wende Heath, Foreword by Gene D. Cohen MD PhD.
Illustrated by Mark Darley    Price: £17.99 + £2 p&p

"A state-of-the-art book, filled with creative practical techniques, thoughtful advice and lessons from excellent case examples that all healthcare practitioners-physicians and allied healthcare professionals alike-can apply for the therapeutic and health-promoting benefits for their patients and clients."
- from the Foreword by Gene D. Cohen MD PhD, Director of the Center on Aging, Health and Humanities, Professor of Health Care Sciences and Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioural Sciences and The George Washington Society

This resource comprises a collection of accessible, flexible, tried-and-tested activities for use with people in a range of care settings, to help them explore their knowledge of themselves and to make sense of their experiences.   Among the issues addressed by the activities are exploring physical changes, emotional trauma, interpersonal problems and spiritual dilemmas. Featuring individual and group activities of varying difficulty, including card making, painting to music, meditation, and body mapping, it also includes real-life anecdotes that bring the techniques to life.

The Expressive Arts Activity Book is full of fun, easy, creative ideas for workers in hospitals, clinics, schools, hospices, spiritual and religious settings, and in private practice. 

Su Fox   Price: £12.99 + £2.00 p&p

The relationship between practitioner and client in professional therapeutic contexts is a crucial factor in the healing process. This practical guide draws on the vast body of information on that relationship from psychotherapy and presents it in a distilled and relevant format for the complementary therapist.

It encourages practitioners to think about their own preferred styles of relating to clients and, using their own somatic awareness, to understand what may be going on in the relationship. Su Fox emphasises the importance of self care, boundary management, clear communication, clear contracting and good listening as the basis for achieving the expected behaviours and attitudes described in the various codes of ethics for complementary therapists. Additionally, with the use of helpful exercises and illustrative case histories, she presents strategies for managing 'difficult' clients and for working with one's own difficult feelings about them.

Drawn from experience both as a practitioner and as a client in a range of therapeutic contexts, the advice in this book is indispensable for complementary therapy practitioners and students in the field, and is also of interest to anyone working with others in a 'helping' capacity.

Albert J. Kearney    Price: £12.99 + £2.00 p&p

Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) is based on the premise that behavior can be influenced by changes in environment and by the reinforcing consequences of that behavior. This introductory guide to ABA demystifies the basic terminology, the underlying principles, and commonly-used procedures of ABA using accessible, everyday language.

Albert J. Kearney explains the kinds of learning and reinforcement processes that form the basis of ABA programs. Having covered these essential principles, he describes how the science of behavior analysis can be effectively applied to real life behavior problems. He looks at how behavior is assessed and various intervention techniques that are often employed with children who have autism and other special needs. Having laid these essential foundations, Kearney touches on more advanced topics: the applications of ABA in behavioral education, such as precision teaching and programmed instruction.

Clear, accessible, and with a structure that is easy-to-follow, this book is an essential introduction to the discipline of ABA and its applications for parents and professionals.

Jaqui Hewitt-Taylor   Price: £18.99 + £2.00 p&p

'This book draws on the experiences of a number of families to provide a valuable and deeply moving insight into what it means to raise a child with complex needs. It highlights both the joys and the challenges that families face. In doing so it raises important issues about how services in the UK are currently responding to children with complex needs and their families as well as pervasive disablist attitudes within society. This book will provide students and practitioners from a range of disciplines with a valuable window into families' lives and challenge them to reflect on how they are supporting them.'

- Sue Kirk, University of Manchester , UK . Focusing on the real life experiences of children and their families, this book provides valuable insight into living with complex and continuing health needs. The author highlights the importance of seeing each child as an individual, with the same rights and needs as any other person, rather than defining them by their health condition. The book includes case studies to illustrate the experiences of children, parents, siblings and extended families, as well as professionals in health and social care. These personal accounts discuss both the challenges and the rewards associated with looking after a child with complex needs. The author also provides an overview of the support which is available in healthcare and education systems and makes recommendations for the future.  Anyone who is responsible for supporting children with complex and continuing health needs will benefit from reading this book.

…………..more books from the BSMT!      

Let's All Listen

Songs for Group Work in Settings that Include Students with Learning Difficulties and Autism Pat Lloyd, Foreword by Adam Ockelford November 2007, £24.99 with CD

Music provides a unique and powerful means of promoting communication and social interaction in students with learning difficulties. In this collection, Pat Lloyd brings together 46 songs composed or adapted for use with children with communication problems.

Each of the songs features a vocal line and piano accompaniment and can be listened to on the audio CD included with the book. Simplified guitar versions are also provided for a selection of the songs. Pat Lloyd provides suggestions for how each song can be used and developed to encourage communication and social interaction, and lists a range of possible objectives for each one. Advocating a flexible approach, she demonstrates how musical activity can be adapted easily and successfully to the specific needs of individual students.

Enjoyable and easy to use, this is an ideal resource for specialist and non-specialist music instructors working to improve the communication and social skills of students with learning difficulties, including those with additional autism.

Microanalysis in Music Therapy

Methods, Techniques and Applications for Clinicians, Researchers, Educators and Students         Edited by Thomas Wosch and Tony Wigram, Foreword by Barbara Wheeler, Price £22.99                                                         

In the context of music therapy, microanalysis is the detailed analysis of that short period of time during a music therapy session during which some kind of significant change takes place. These moments are crucial to the therapeutic process, and there is increasing interest amongst music therapists in understanding how they come about and whether there are ways of initiating them.

The contributors to this groundbreaking book look at methods of micro process analyses used in a variety of music therapy contexts, both clinical and research-based. They outline their methods, which include using video and audio materials, interviewing, and monitoring the client's heart rate, and also give examples of the practical application of microanalysis from their clinical experience, including work with clients who have psychiatric illness, autism and other conditions.

Microanalyses in Music Therapy provides a wealth of important theoretical and practical information for music therapy clinicians, educators and students.

Music Therapy with Adults with Learning Disabilities                                         Edited by Tessa Watson,  Price:  £19.99

Music Therapy with Adults with Learning Disabilities explores how music therapists work in partnership with people with learning disabilities to encourage independence and empowerment and to address a wide variety of everyday issues and difficulties.

Comprehensive and wide-ranging, this book describes in detail the role and work of the music therapist with adults with learning disabilities. Many clinical examples are used, including casework with people with autism, asperger’s syndrome, profound and multiple learning disabilities and a dual diagnosis of learning disability and mental health problems. The book also explores issues of team work and collaborative working, considering how music therapists and their colleagues can best work together. The chapters are grouped into four sections; an introduction to current music therapy work and policy in the area, clinical work with individuals, clinical work with groups, and collaborative and team work. Guidelines for good practice are also provided.

This is a thought-provoking and topical text for all those involved in work with adults with learning disabilities; it is essential reading for music therapists and fellow professionals, carers, policy makers and students

Receptive Methods in Music Therapy                                      

Techniques and Clinical Applications for Music Therapy Clinicians, Educators and Students            Denise Grocke and Tony Wigram, Foreword by Cheryl Dileo, Price: 19.99

This practical book describes the specific use of receptive (listening) methods and techniques in music therapy clinical practice and research, including relaxation with music for children and adults, the use of visualisation and imagery, music and collage, song-lyric discussion, vibroacoustic applications, music and movement techniques, and other forms of aesthetic listening to music. The authors explain these receptive methods of intervention using a format that enables practitioners to apply them in practice and make informed choices about music suitable for each of the different techniques. Protocols are described step-by-step, with reference to the necessary environment, conditions, skills and appropriate musical material.

Receptive Methods in Music Therapy will prove indispensable to music therapy students, practitioners, educators and researchers.

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