Date of Award

5-2021

Document Type

Thesis

Selected Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Degree Name

Master of Science in Music Therapy

Department

Music Therapy

First Advisor

Dr. Maria C. Guerrero

Abstract

Whiteness pervades all aspects of western culture. As a western therapeutic modality, music therapy practice as well as its research and pedagogy are entrenched in Whiteness. While music therapy researchers have explored Whiteness, few studies center and explicitly study Whiteness in music therapy. This inquiry captures Whiteness as it is perceived and experienced by White music therapists. Two board-certified music therapists were interviewed, and interpretative phenomenological analysis was utilized to analyze the transcribed interviews and written responses of the participants. A total of eight themes and 12 subthemes were identified in the data. The results demonstrated that Whiteness suffused the personal and collective experiences of the participants. Gaining a more nuanced understanding of how Whiteness operates in the lives of music therapists and the field of music therapy is critical for the protection of clients and colleagues alike, the maintenance of best practices and delivery of the highest quality care, and the evolution of the field.

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Study

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