Challenging the Profession

Abstract

This article explores some of the issues raised in recent literature about the manner in which music therapy has been developing. It focuses on the professional rather than the clinical issues that surround its development and explores concerns about and criticisms of the manner in which the profession in the UK has sought to develop. Thus it focuses on the political implications of the professionalisation of music therapy in the UK.

Many of the issues have arisen as a result of the evolution of Community Music Therapy, challenging music therapists regardless of the clinical approaches employed. This article considers whether the profession's self-promotional activities are compatible with a client-centred¹ approach, concluding that this is indeed the case.