British Journal of Music Therapy

The last few years have seen a change in both the identity and format of the Journal of British Music Therapy. This review looks at the present Journal from 1987–91, attempting to identify changes and trends, and any areas which are not covered. Finally, it tries to assess what the profession needs from its Journal, what music therapists want, and to what extent this is being met in the JBMT.

At present there is no standardised procedure for music therapy assessment in the UK. Music therapists use a wide variety of methods to review their clients' progress. This paper begins by examining some of these different procedures and looking at their advantages and disadvantages.

A particular system of analysis developed by the author is then explained in detail. Information about four different clients with severe learning difficulties from this analysis is compared to information gained simultaneously through video-analysis. The results seem to indicate that the author's assessment procedure is an efficient way of collecting information about music therapy sessions with these clients. The paper then looks at whether this same procedure can be used with other types of clients. Suggestions for further investigations are made.