Experiencing Race as a Music Therapist: Personal Narratives

Hadley, S. (2013). Experiencing race as a music therapist: Persona!Narratives. Gilsum, NH: Barcelona Publishers.REVIEWER:Claire Molyneux, MA (Music Therapy), BA (Hons), PGCertHealSc (Adv Psychotherapy Practice), NZ RMThHead of Clinical Services, Raukatauri Music Therapy Centre, AucklandReading and reviewing this book has been challenging, inspiring and thought-provoking. It has prompted me ask questions of myself and discuss the issues raised with friends and colleagues. As a white woman I fit the bill for a typical music therapist. I knew that our profession was dominated by white women and remember feeling excited at the diversity I hoped encounter at my first World Congress in Oxford, UK, in 2002. Living and working in Leicester (one of the most culturally diverse cities in England) at the time, race and culture was something that we talked about in my workplace and I was keen hear from those with different cultural experiences in music therapy support my developing practice. However, although the Congress was stimulating and engaging, I remember feeling disappointed at the rather homogeneous group of people representing international music therapy and wondered what this meant for the profession.Cultural competence is being discussed more frequently in our field and Susan Hadley's book is a welcome addition the literature, taking as its starting point, the individual experiences of music therapists. This book raises the profile of racial awareness within our profession and acknowledges that understanding and working with difference and diversity is part of our ongoing journey both professionally and personally. Susan Hadley calls for all music therapists, and especially those who are white, critically reflect on our racial and cultural identities, beliefs and values. She encourages us to risk vulnerability with the hope that when we deconstruct white identity there can be an exchange across racial identities and cultures.This book is a compilation of narratives from 1 7 music therapists exploring experiences of race in the therapy setting. The narratives are framed with two chapters by Hadley that introduce and present her story, interest in and motivation for this topic, philosophical stance and reflections on some of the issues raised. Hadley recorded her conversations with each therapist, transcribed the recordings and wrote narratives that stayed close the original transcripts. A collaborative process was used create the final narratives in the book. Hadley does not claim that the book is representative of all groups or countries and in fact eight of the 1 7 narratives are from therapists living and working in the United States (US) and from different racial groups including: African American; Caucasian American; Korean; Japanese; Iranian American; and Puerto Rican. Other narratives are by therapists living and working in Canada, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand who identify as Native American and European heritage, Jewish Canadian, White South African, Torres Strait and European heritage, White Australian, Maori, and Caucasian English. The narratives present experiences over a number of decades, providing important contextual material.Several of the narratives offer different perspectives on moving countries train and work as a music therapist, including Hadley's own journey from Australia the US. Others offer perspectives on experiences of difference and the impact of assumptions and stereotyped media images that can impact a sense of belonging and identity; issues relating dominant discourses of race; the challenges of adjusting new languages and cultures; the importance of engaging with indigenous communities; and the value of travelling and working in different countries. …

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