Foreword - EMTC Proceedings

From Jaakko Erkkilä
Chair of the Organizing Committee The 6th European Music Therapy Congress , Finland

It is my pleasant task to write the foreword for these proceedings. When looking at the papers included, a warm memory of the congress emerges once again. Glancing through the publication is also a journey where new discoveries can be made. When it is not possible for a participant to attend everything in the congress but to make difficult choices between many interesting sessions, the value of this kind of high quality proceedings really comes up. Like the previous electronic proceedings by Musictherapyworld/UWH, I suppose that this also soon redeems its place and will be widely used wherever music therapy is in the focus of interest. Undoubtedly, many new field-specific openings can be found thereof as well.

Some may have critical thoughts about digital publications and may long for traditional paper copies instead. This is understandable but when we think of all the benefits of an electronic publication for a specific discipline such as music therapy, it is easy to advocate it too. Text, colours, audio and video can be included and thus, many essential phenomena and contents of the profession – often hard to describe fully by words – can be illustrated.

The meaning of a congress for a profession is manifold. From a presenter's point of view it may be a unique opportunity to share one's findings, whether practical or theoretical. Some time ago I attended a seminar where many music therapy doctors met. A common opinion among the participants was that it takes rather long after the defence, before one really is able to condense a thesis into a relatively brief presentation or article. It is because it takes time until a researcher gets rid of the details and is able to crystallise the essential core of his/her dissertation. However, this is not only an issue of time but requires hard work as presentations, articles, lectures, etc. as well. For many attendees, preparing and presenting congress papers seemed to be an important role in the process of discovering the essential content of their work. Thus, presenting at the congress is not only sharing the ideas but developing one's thinking. The latter relates to clinician presenters as well, I think.

The title of the congress – “Many Faces of Music Therapy” – refers to a plurality of ideas within the broad field of our profession. The title also symbolises the hidden aim of the organizers to be inclusive and not exclusive. Unfortunately, it seems that the decision makers in many countries do not share this kind of inclusiveness with us. There is an increasing pressure to be able to clearly say who we are and who we are not. In some countries this means that much effort is required in order to connect music therapy to the health care system and to gain recognition this way. Anyway, more evidence is required and the concept of professional divergence is often challenged. How many faces we can have in future, is a crucial question for music therapists. In this situation where we feel insecure - at least now and then, the meaning of international collaboration and brainstorming is very important. Thanks to the EMTC and the Musictherapyworld we have a forum for them!

Have nice moments with the publication,
Jaakko Erkkilä

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The proceedings of the 6th European Music Therapy conference have been edited by David Aldridge, Jörg Fachner and Jaakko Erkkilä. The proceedings appear as a special issue in the 6th Volume of Music Therapy Today.

How to cite an article from the Proceedings
Boyle, M. E. (2005) Measurement Strategies in Music Therapy Clinical Practice for General Medical Settings. In: Aldridge, D.; Fachner, J. & Erkkilä, J. (eds) Many Faces of Music Therapy - Proceedings of the 6th European Music Therapy Congress, June 16-20, 2004 Jyväskylä , Finland. p. 792-799. eBook (PDF ) available at MusicTherapyToday.com Vol.6. Issue 4 (November 2005).

Memories of Jyväskylä nights

from left to right: Joerg Fachner (git), Esa Ala-Ruona (dr), David Aldridge (voc+git), Winni Janssen (b), Jaakko Erkkilä (key+accordeon) playing in Jyväskylä Jazz Bar , 19. June 04
Click to download a MP3 (792 kb) extract of the „Reach out“ jam