Family Hub at the 11th Nordic Music Therapy Conference in Aalborg, Denmark, 26–29 June 2024:
(by Grace Thompson)
Family members can often be kept apart by distance and the demands of everyday life. When families get together, it is a time to catch up on news, share perspectives, and rekindle relationships. The Family Hub round table at the 2024 Nordic Music Therapy Conference in Aalborg, Denmark, was another precious moment for our professional ‘family’ to come together. We caught up with old friends and welcomed new music therapists to the Hub, both at the round table presentation and a lunch gathering.
The round table was a creative response to the conference theme of ‘Face the Music’. There were ten presenters representing a range of practice and research areas across the life span who reflected on their evolving understandings of what it means to work ‘with families’ as a music therapist. Each presenter selected a song as a metaphor to illustrate a key aspect of their practice, such as an important outcome, or a principle underpinning their practice, or a theoretical perspective.
The round table started with an introduction to the Family Hub (by Eva Phan Quoc and Grace Thompson). Then, each presenters’ song choices were grouped into three themes, including: breaking down barriers (Rut Wallius, Kirsi Tuomi, Imogen Clark); companionship on the journey (Claire Flower, Sara Knapik-Szweda, Tali Gottfried); and growth and acceptance (Amy Howden, Eugenia Hernandez-Ruiz, Grace Thompson).
We played an excerpt of each song, and the presenters discussed the meaning of their selection and how it relates to their practice. The songs and reflections offer a variety of insights into music therapy practice with families, and it seems that this arts-based approach to presenting knowledge conveyed a depth of emotion.
The audience members sang along to the songs they knew, and listened to the touching reasons for each selection. At one point we were even told to keep the volume down which might be a sign of a great session - being asked to be quiet by the room next door!
At the end of the presentations, we invited the audience members to reflect and contribute their own song to the playlist that could represent an aspect of their practice/research with families. We created a space for participants to talk about their song choice and practice with each other, and share perspectives. During the discussion, Amy quickly added the new songs to the existing playlist, which we are happy to share with you via this link:
On Spotify: Family Holiday Playlist 2024
At the end of the group discussion, Claire and Imogen offered some final reflections about the perspectives shared and the experience of coming together to construct a ‘metaphorical holiday playlist’. Now that the conference is over, the presenters are thinking about how we can best share these reflections with the music therapy community, perhaps via a publication within a music therapy journal – stay tuned for more information!
Watch HERE a wonderful little video clip of this gathering at the Nordic Conference of Music Therapy in Aalborg, June 2024 that captures some of this special moments (by Sara Knapik-Sweda).
Family Hub - Round Table & Get Together at the 11th Nordic Music Therapy Conference in Aalborg, Denmark, 26–29 June 2024:
If you attend the NCMT, join us at our Round Table:
"Music therapists working with families ‘face the music’ with a metaphorical holiday playlist"
At the 2012 Nordic Music Therapy Conference, a group of music therapists who described their practice as being ‘with families’ gathered together to share their approaches and discuss key issues. Over time, this group created a community of practice originally named the ‘Music therapy with families network’, and which now has evolved into the concept of a ‘hub’ to represent a meeting place for ideas, activity, and professional support.
This roundtable brings together a panel of experienced practitioners and researchers who will reflect on their evolving understandings of the practice of music therapy ‘with families’. Presenters include members of the ‘hub’ with a diversity of music therapy practice with families across the lifespan, from infants to older adults. Each presenter will select a song as a metaphor to illustrate a key aspect of their practice with families. The song might represent an important outcome, or a principle underpinning practice, or a theoretical perspective.
We recognise the professional nurturing that takes place at conferences when music therapists take a ‘holiday’ from their regular work, and we link this concept to the ways that some families share music together when travelling on vacation. During the roundtable, we will co-create a ‘playlist’ that can be shared with delegates. The roundtable panel will also invite the audience to reflect, discuss, and add songs to the playlist. By doing so, we aim to ‘face the music’, and use these songs as an ongoing resource to scaffold our continued reflective practice.
