Sociocultural Identities in Music Therapy

Sociocultural Identities in Music Therapy is a collection of personal narratives by 18 music therapists who engage in a critical culturally reflexive process and explore implications for their therapeutic practice. Amongst the authors, there is gender diversity, diversity of sexualities, racial diversity, ethnic diversity, neurodiversity, geographical diversity, linguistic diversity, educational diversity, and more. Each persons intersectional identity positions them differently in terms of their sociocultural location and thus each has differing experiences of unearned advantages or disadvantages based purely on their membership in various sociocultural groups in unique combinations. As such, each person distinctively explores how they experience and are experienced in social contexts. Woven together, this book is a rich tapestry of the sociocultural identities of music therapists and implications for their therapeutic relationships and processes. It provides a deep understanding and appreciation of the concept of culture and its omnipresence in all we do and all we are. The hope is that these narratives, and the included strategies for doing this kind of critical culturally reflexive work, will guide music therapy students and practitioners to examine their own sociocultural location and experiences, and that it will open music therapists to consider their relational dynamics in all aspects of their lives. CONTENTS Introduction, by Susan Hadley Chapter 1 Me: A Personal and Professional Necessity, by Marisol Norris Chapter 2 transfronterizx, by ezequiel bautista Chapter 3 What Are You? Finding Connection as a Brown, Male Music Therapist, by Akash Bhatia Chapter 4 A Skeptic in the Land of Music Therapy: Evaluating Evidence at the Beginnings of Practice, by Petra Gelbart Chapter 5 Making a Detour: Paths for Diverse People to Live in Diverse Ways, by Hiroko Miyake Chapter 6 The Long Journey Towards Self-Acceptance: Living as a Queer Transgender Music Therapist, by Spencer Hardy Chapter 7 Caught Unaware: Honest Acknowledgments and Clinical Applications in an Ongoing Process, by Kathryn Eberle Cotter Chapter 8 Comfortably Unknowing: Maintaining Equilibrium as a Minority in a Minority Profession, by Natasha Thomas Chapter 9 Tabula Rasa = Tab la Raza: My Not-So-Blank Slate, by Sandra Ramos-Watt Chapter 10 Queering Karma and Cosmos: My Journey as an Indian American Music Therapist in the United States, by Sangeeta Swamy Chapter 11 The Highest Good Is Like Water : The Music Runs Through It, by Joyu Lee Chapter 12 El Closet es Para el Ropa: Music Therapist, Coming Aut, by Jessica Leza Chapter 13 What Could I Do Better?: Failing Again and Again, by Maevon Gumble Chapter 14 On the Outside, Always Looking In: A Queer Black Mans Search for Acceptance, by Freddy Perkins Chapter 15 Always Evolving: Finding Fluidity in Fixed Narratives, by Kristen McSorley Chapter 16 Unfinished Story, by Ming Yuan Low Chapter 17 Themes and Variations, by Annette Whitehead-Pleaux Chapter 18 Intersections and Intersectionality: Under Construction, by Douglas R. Keith Afterword: Reflections and Strategies, by Susan Hadley