Music Therapy Methods in Neurorehabilitation

Acquired brain injury presents huge challenges to our societies worldwide. With this new publication, Music Therapy Methods in Neurorehabilitation: A Clinician's Manual, Felicity Baker and Jeanette Tamplin provide an extensive and highly informative presentation of a wide selection of music therapy interventions they have applied in neurorehabilitation in response to the challenges of acquired brain injury. Building on may years of clinical experience and research, the authors provide descriptions and explanations of interventions related to a wide range of issues including altered states of consciousness, movement disorders, cognitive and behavioural impairments, challenges to communication and emotional adjustment. It is the first book to provide such an extensive overview of a large selection of clinical techniques applied in neurorehabilitation with people with acquired brain injury. The book makes a significant contribution and provides access to a great deal of unique information and knowledge about the clinical application of music therapy in rehabilitation with people who have experienced acquired brain injury. This book will be of interest to music therapist, students, and music therapy educators. It is also a valuable resource for related professionals interested in the application of music therapy in neurorehabilitation.

Felicity Baker and Jeanette Tamplin show practically how music therapy may be used to support rehabilitation in the areas of communication, cognitive and behavioural, physical and emotional adjustment with guidelines and sample tasks. The chapter on cognitive rehabilitation includes resources and lists suitable songs for use in immediate memory or abstract thinking tasks.

Having worked for a number of years in the area of Acquired Brain Injury (ABI) Rehabilitation I can assuredly say this book is a well needed addition to our profession. Professionals will find this a useful reference to demonstrate the benefits of MT to fellow colleagues and administrators while supervisors will be able to utilise it to guide their students suitably. Felicity Baker and Jeanette Tamplin have demonstrated why they continue o be ground breakers in their respective fields. The additional chapter at the end by Jeanette Kennelly on the area of paediatric rehabilitation ensures the book is useful to a number of different professional groups. I strongly believe it is a practical and easy to apply manual which can only be of benefit. I feel that the descriptions of interventions in the book provide practical application and direction for clinicians while outlining the diverse and creative methods in which Music Therapy may be utilised to assist in treatment needs. This is an important resource for all clinicians to own or access.

This book contains seven chapters which are structured to aid the reader in navigating the contents in order to draw out relevant information. The initial chapter provides an overview of neurological damage and models of rehabilitation in language which is easy to understand and would not alienate those new to neurology.

This book is a welcome addition to the literature about music herapy and its role in neurorehabilitation. It serves as a reference text for music therapy clinicians new to the field of neurorehabilitation and for those who wish to find out more about the processes and outcomes of music therapy intervention with this population. As outlined by the authors, it provides a "how to" manual rather than reporting research findings to build an evidence base for music therapy... This book is a good read and an excellent resource for students, for qualified therapists new to neurorehabilitation and for those wishing to understand more about the pathology of the clinical population. I would strongly recommend it as a teaching and reference resource.

This book is a welcome and timely addition to the literature about music therapy and its role in neurorehabilitation. It serves as a reference text for music therapy clinicians new to the filed of neurorehabilitation and for those who wish to find out more about the processes and outcomes of music therapy intervention in this field. As the authors outline, it provides a "how to" manual rather than reporting research findings to build an evidence base for music therapy.

This book provides a comprehensive summary of the types of acquired brain injury, the difficulties that patients may experience following brain injury, and how music therapy can address these difficulties...Each chapter follows a consistent format, detailing the neurological underpinnings of a patient's diagnosis. This knowledge provides the music therapist with the foundation on which to establish goal-directed treatment programmes. The book gives examples of specific music therapy techniques used to address the aforementioned needs of patients...In our day-to-day work, we have found the book really useful in many ways, including: * it is a beneficial tool for both music therapists and the multidisciplinary team when introducing music therapy services * it provides a succinct refresher of techniques, their implementation and patient benefits * it offers helpful references for further reading to inform music therapy practice and the multidisciplinary team * it assists music therapists and multidisciplinary teams in using consistent language. Furthermore, the book offers useful treatment techniques for clinicians and patients for use beyond the clinical setting to support their progress post discharge. It has also been a useful source for both supervisors and supervisees in expanding knowledge, understanding, implementation and review of music therapy practice in neurorehabilitation...Its contents are derived from the authors' extensive clinical experience as music therapists working in multidisciplinary neurorehabilitation teams in Australia. As music therapy in neurorehabilitation is a developing area, they felt that a manual would be uiseful to the growing number of clinicians working in this field.Thus, it is the first of its kind; a much needed and welcomed addition to the body of literature.