Music Therapy Today - World Federation of Music Therapy

Welcome to a new issue of „Music Therapy Today“
There is a growing interest in the medical profession to use psychedelic
medication like other remedies
( Lancert 2006). The Multiple Association
for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS) research health institutions in the US, in
Switzerland and Israel, have approved proposals, designed for the medi-
cal use of psychedelic substances in treatment. Some of these research
protocols integrate the appreciation of music for the participants
Editorial Music Therapy Today Vol. VII (2) (online 1st July 2006)
( Mithoe-
fer 2006) reminding us of the early days of GIM when Helen Bonny pre-
pared the music program for psychotherapeutic purposes
Pahnke 1972).
( Bonny and
In July 2006, a musicology conference on Music and Consciousness
issues, to be held at the University of Sheffield, UK., will focus on music
and altered states as well.
Let us now turn to other features in this issue.
The paper, The pleasure of being “differently able”: Integration through
music therapy in primary schools from Paola Pecoraro Esperson, shows
how group music therapy can help the integration, as well as the develop-
ment of “differently able” children in regular schools. This paper is based
on a presentation at the world conference of music therapy in Oxford
back in 2002. Those regular readers of this magazine will be aware that
Petra Kern has also published in this field and her contribution can be
found in Music Therapy Today Vol 5(4) August 2004.
When Petra Kern was teaching “Theories in Music Therapy” at the Uni-
versity of Windsor in Canada, she had the idea of an interview with Dr.
Dale Taylor. Her students became very excited about Dr. Taylor’s expla-
nations of the functioning of music on the human brain.
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