Music Therapy in Palliative Care

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.

The contributors seek to emphasise the importance of working not only with the patient but with the ward situation, friends and family members; many write in their own personal voice, offering a particular insight which will be valuable not only to other music therapists seeking to enrich their own ways of working, but to all those involved in caring for the sick and the dying.