Music Therapy Today - World Federation of Music Therapy

Pecoraro Esperson, P. (2006) The pleasure of being “differently able”: Integration through music therapy in primary
schools. Music Therapy Today (Online) Vol.VII (2) 413-429. available at http://musictherapyworld.net
Bruscia (1992) defines music therapy as “…the systematic process of
intervention, in which the therapists aids the client in improving their
health utilizing the musical experiences and the relationships which
develop through them as dynamic forces of change”.
Boxill suggests a model of musical therapeutic evaluation the application
of which is particularly effective in an educational and integrative envi-
ronment as it runs through again the various areas of development, which
have generally already been investigated with other grids of observation
by the teachers. Through this model, we observe the general characteris-
tics of behaviour, handicap and the physical situation, the emotional,
motor, communicational, cognitive and perceptive domains, the specific
musical behaviours.
Such observations, as suggested by Boxill, are then compared with those
of the other utilised grids. In our case the most utilized is the grid of Pel-
lerey.
Even the protocol is the one proposed by Boxill. It should be compiled as
a “report” of every session and should contain a description of the meet-
ing, its objectives and the musical therapeutic activities, the response
from the subject, the degree of participation, the verification of the out-
come of the meeting relating to the purpose of the laboratory. Boxill
expects moreover monthly an annual reports.
Music therapy in its globality of languages of Stefania Guerra Lisi (1977)
has guided my observation of the “human potentials” and the psycho-
motor-sensory behaviours for the translation of each language in music.
Gertrud Orff (1982) has inspired the choice and adoption of the many
musical therapeutic techniques, and in particular how the groups were
Integrative Music Therapy 418