History of Music Therapy in Italy

History in Italy As in many countries, the first steps of every new discipline always need some pioneers who, in order to be such, must have strong and charismatic personalities which, in the earliest stages of development, are an invaluable resource, also in terms of the intransigence with which more often they defend the orthodoxy of their thinking.

This process started halfway through the 70s with the first occasion for a national comparison at the Bologna Conference in A few years later Nora Cervi, at that time director of the Music Course of the Pro Civitate Christiana of Assisi and a person endowed with a rare sensitiveness, kindness and far-sightedness, unfortunately recently passed away, made herself the founder, together with a group of collaborators, of the first Italian Training Course which started, as an experiment, in 1981.

Spreading of musictherapy On one hand was the growing number of trained professionals who gradually began to spread music therapy into new areas of application and make it known to other professional categories with whom they were then able to confront themselves and their different areas of knowledge. On the other was the increasing contact with representatives of music therapy in Europe and America who contributed to enrich the wealth of knowledge and theoretical references, also thanks to the increasing in the circulation of original and translated texts (for example, the writings, lessons and supervisions of Alvin, Benenzon, Bruscia, Bunt, Lecourt, Nordoff-Robbins, Priestley and Wigram).

The first associations The first emerged associations, having also the objective of cultural promotion of the discipline, started to gather groups of professionals at a local level who felt the need for more confrontation within the discipline and to see the recognition of what by this stage was for many their main occupation, but which often had to be assimilated into more general or different professional roles in order to fit into the various work contexts.

The Italian Confederation of Music Therapy Associations At the beginning of the 90s the various Regional Associations, which in the meantime had spread considerably, decided to join together to form the Italian Confederation of Music Therapy Associations (Confederazione Italiana Associazioni di Musicoterapia - Conf.I.A.M.) with the objective of including and coordinating the initiatives which were more and more often being proposed in Italy. These initiatives can be classified into the following areas: Informative and for dialogue, Educational, Clinical and Research. It has been organised every 2 years since 1994 (Ercolano 94, Portoferraio 95, Turin '97, Florence '99, Naples '01, Rimini '03) and allows an internal dialogue and confrontation to be developed between the various positions and practical approaches which are taking shape in the music therapy scene in our country.

Theoretical Foundations The real possession both of good musical skills and of a psychological interpretative model of musical relationship are by now unanimously recognised as being necessary qualities for a music therapist, though with the different emphasis that the various schools place on one or the other.

Thus, both psychodynamic-oriented music therapies and humanistic- existential relational music therapies currently exist as the two main directions. The emphasis that is placed on the quality of the musical experience, even within the same orientation, is still rather variable.

Beside a good level of musical ability and knowledge, which by now all schools request for aspiring music therapists, for some of them it is also indispensable the quality of the musical experience and a style of encountering this experience that the music therapists must have recognised in him/herself in order to be able to become credible witnesses in the therapeutic relationship. Although not many schools make this request yet, it anyhow seems that this will be the path of future development in relation to the specificity of music therapy compared to other approaches for helping people.

Training Programs A great deal of attention has been paid to the definition of educational criteria. Local undergraduate Training Courses as well as some postgraduate experiences have been promoted throughout Italy by the Associations. Coordination on a national level has allowed identification of some fundamental criteria for organising the educational programme for the undergraduate courses, circulated via their publication in the Student's Handbook in 1999.

In short, the criteria are the following: Length of Training Course at least 3 years (from 700 to 1400 hours); Entrance criteria: Secondary school and excellent knowledge of musical language; Educational Programme divided into 4 areas: Music Therapy (45%), Music (25%), Psychology (15%) and Medicine (15%); Practical placement (minimum 250 hours) and Tutoring (minimum 60 hours);

The coordination and monitoring of the courses have produced excellent results in terms of educational standardisation. Collaborations and conventions are currently underway between the training courses and music conservatories and universities with the aim of improving the quality of the courses and above all avoiding the danger of self-referencing which is always present in privately managed Courses.

Recognition Although they are not the only professional associations existing in Italy, F.I.M. and A.I.M. are the Associations which currently represent, as a body, the highest number of music therapy professionals from various orientations and which are present and active in the process of recognition at a national legislative level within the CNEL (Consiglio Nazionale Economia e Lavoro - National Council for Economy and Labour). In reference to this important objective of the express Recognition of Music Therapy, we would briefly like to outline the problem, so to go over how this process has taken shape in our country and to identify the path that can lead to obtain this recognition.

Sources Aldridge D., Di Franco G., Ruud E., Wigram T. (a cura di) Musicoterapia in Europa Musicoterapia in Europa, Traduzione di Antonietta De Vivo, Roma, ISMEZ, 2001, 332 pp., ISBN Benenzon Rolando - V.H. De Gainza - G. Wagner La nuova Musicoterapia La nuova Musicoterapia tr. Annalisa Sassano, 1998 Borghesi M., Mancini M., Barbagallo A.M., Olivieri M. Quale scientificità per la musicoterapia: i contributi della ricerca. Quale scientificità per la musicoterapia: i contributi della ricerca. atti del V Congresso nazionale di Musicoterapia ConfIAM, 2003, Quaderni di musica applicata n. 22, 215 p., Assisi, PCC D'Ulisse M.E. - Polcaro F.,(a cura di) Musicoterapia e Autismo Musicoterapia e Autismo 2000, 79 p., Phoenix Editrice, Studi di musicoterapia

Professional Associations Within this reference framework, the F.I.M. (Federation of A.I.M. (Italian Professional Association of MusicTherapy) was set up in June The association's main objectives are the recognition of the professionalism of those who work in this sector and safeguarding the correct practice of their profession. Among the various aims that the Association has set itself we would like to point out the following aspects: managing a National Register of Music Therapists comprising three sections: List of Music Therapists, List of Music Therapy, Educators and List of Supervisors. Establishing and raising clinical and ethical standards; being a constant point of reference for all music therapists in Italy;

guaranteeing the correct practice of the profession by the members of the Register; safeguarding the collective interests of the sector providing consultancy and support; encouraging the spread of updated information on job opportunities and new work agreements; encouraging the exchange, publication and distribution of works relevant to music therapy; establishing and maintaining contact with other music therapists and associations around the world; maintaining a continuous relationship with the other related professional associations.

Ferrara Carmen (a cura di) Musicoterapia e Psichiatria Musicoterapia e Psichiatria 2002, 149 pp., Phoenix Editrice, (ISBN: ) Gaggero GiacomoEsperienza musicale e musicoterapia Esperienza musicale e musicoterapia 2003, 116 p., 12,00 Mimesis Edizioni Milano (ISBN ) Lorenzetti L.M. e Suvini F. (a cura di)PROSPETTIVE IN MUSICOTERAPIA Studi ricerche transdisciplinarità PROSPETTIVE IN MUSICOTERAPIA Studi ricerche transdisciplinarità, 2001,152 p., Edizioni Franco Angeli (ISBN: ) Postacchini P.L. - Ricciotti A. - Borghesi M. Lineamenti di musicoterapia Lineamenti di musicoterapia 1997, 179 p.,Ricerche /Psicologia, La Nuova Italia Scientifica (ISBN: )

Raglio A., Manarolo G., Villani D. ( a _cura di) Musicoterapia e malattia di Alzheimer. Proposte applicative e ipotesi di ricerca Musicoterapia e malattia di Alzheimer. Proposte applicative e ipotesi di ricerca 2001, 143 p. Edizioni Cosmpolis Scardovelli Mauro - Ghiozzi RobertoLa musica nel passaggio luminoso. Musicoterapia con malati terminali La musica nel passaggio luminoso. Musicoterapia con malati terminali 2003, 140 p., Edizioni Borla, (ISBN: ) Trovesi Cremaschi Giulia Il corpo vibrante: teoria, pratica ed esperienze di musicoterapia con i bambini sordi, Il corpo vibrante: teoria, pratica ed esperienze di musicoterapia con i bambini sordi, 2001, 383 p., Educazione e rieducazione, Ma.gi, (ISBN: ) Elaborated by LUETEB

Areas Musicotherapy and elderly people

Activities of musictherapy

MUSIC THERAPY AND APHASIA

BIOMUSIC