Musical Encounters with Dying

Preface.; 1.The Death Song: Historical and Therapeutic Perspectives.; 2. The Relationship.; 3. Some Things the Dying Need to Do.; 4. The Safety of Culture.; 5. Difficult Emotions.; 6. Music is a Visual Art.; 7. The Disabled and Mentally Ill.; 8. The Rich and the Poor.; 9. The Will to Live, The Will to Die.; 10. Self-Care: Breathing Life into My Life. Colophon. Lessons and Final Thoughts.

Musical Encounters with the Dying: Stories and Lessons by Islene Runningdeer is one of those books which... offers the key ingredients for bringing music into palliative care settings. These include creating a therapeutic relationship, helping clients to reach final goals, and dealing with difficult emotions. It gives particular attention to supporting vulnerable groups of clients including those with disabilities and mental health issues, as well as working with relatives... The book highlights the breadth of ways in which music can support both patients and relatives in their time of need, as they face death... Runningdeer, includes many personal and insightful experiences of work with clients offering both creative and supportive ideas to consider. She highlights how her music therapy practice has developed, and how she has also developed realistic expectations of her client relationships. She discusses key qualities a therapist needs... Runningdeer's work provides some simple suggestions for the practitioner introducing music therapy to those who have little foreknowledge of it... Many examples of music therapy are given ... I deem Musical Encounters with the Dying: Stories and Lessons to be a valuable book for all music therapists, and particularly those working in palliative care... It is a very accessible and practical text... It could be a useful book within both music therapy training and on-going clinical supervision for experience therapists.