Music Therapy in Palliative Care

David Aldridge is Professor of Qualitative Research in the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Witten-Herdecke. He is author of Music Therapy Research and Practice in Medicine: From Out of the Silence (1996) Suicide: The Tragedy of Hopelessness (1998) and Spirituality, Healing and Medicine (2000) published by Jessica Kingsley Publishers.

Music therapy is still in the process of establishing its role in the UK palliative care movement. On balance, this publication can only help to inspire more therapists to work in the field, and to communicate their experiences to a wider audience. The personal approach to writing adopted by many of the authors is both highly accessible and absorbing. With this publication the voice of music therapy speaks clearly, providing a highly recommended account of this exciting and challenging area of work.

• Introduction, David Aldridge. 1. Music Therapy and the Creative Act, David Aldridge, Chair of Qualitative Research in Medicine, University of Witten/Herdecke, Germany. 2. Music Therapy as Milieu in the Hospice and Paediatric Oncology Ward, Tryge Aasgaard, Asistant Professor, Oslo College; Music Therapist, Ullevl, The National Hospital, Hospice Louisenberg, Oslo, Norway. 3. Lyrical Themes in Songs Written by Palliative Care Patients, Clare O'Callaghan. 4. Creativity and Communication Aspects of Music Therapy in a Children's Hospital, Beth Dun, Senior Music Therapist, Royal Children's Hospital, Melbourne. 5. Music Therapy at the End of Life: Searching for the Rite of Passage, Bridget Hogan. 6. Music Therapy in Chronic Degenerative Illness: Reflecting the Dynamic Sense of Self, Wendy Magee. 7. Music: A Means of Comfort, Susan Weber, Music Therapist, Johannes Hospiz der Barmherzigen, Munich; Lecturer in Music Therapy, Ludwigs Maximilian University, Munich. 8. Music Therapists' Personal Reflections on Working with Those Who Are Living with HIV/AIDS: `Almost the Definition of God', Nigel Hartley, Senior Music Therapist, Sir Michael Sobell House; London Lighthouse; Nordoff Robbins Centre, London. 9. Music Therapy with HIV Positive and AIDS Patients, Lutz Neugebauer. 10. The Implications of Melodic Expression for Music Therapy with a Breast Cancer Patient, Gudrun Aldridge, Lecturer, University of Witten/Herdecke, Germany. 11. Writing and Therapy: Into a New Tongue, Rob Finlayson.