Summary: While there have certainly been humanistic points of view on the discipline since its inception, I would like to explore a particular way of understanding what music therapy is and what music therapists do, based upon a specific set of inter-related principles with foundations in humanism and person-centered orientations of therapy. It's my hope that developing a perspective in this area will help meaningfully inform music therapy practice, research, and education in ways that are unique, indigenous, and congruent with what many music therapists believe to be the essential core of their work. Brian Abrams, Ph.D., MT-BC, LPC, LCAT, FAMI, has been a music therapist since 1995, with clinical experience involving a wide range of populations. He completed undergraduate studies at Vassar College and SUNY New Paltz, and graduate studies at Temple University. He has served on the music therapy faculty at Utah State University (2001-2004) and Immaculata University (2004-2008), and currently serves as Associate Professor of Music in the Cali School of Music at Montclair State University (since 2008). He has published and presented internationally on a wide range of topics such as person-centered and humanistic perspectives on music therapy, music therapy in cancer care, music psychotherapy, and music therapy research. He has served on numerous editorial boards, including Music Therapy Perspectives, Qualitative Inquiries in Music Therapy, and Voices, and has been a frequent guest reviewer for the Nordic Journal of Music Therapy. Currently, he is serving on the Board of Directors of the American Music Therapy Association (2010-2011), and as Immediate Past-President of the Mid-Atlantic Region of the American Music Therapy Association (2009-2011). In addition, he maintains an individual practice in music psychotherapy, and periodically offers music-centered support groups for cancer survivors. Email: abramsb@mail.montclair.edu
