Music Therapy Online Documentaries: A Descriptive Analysis

• Published in: Music therapy perspectives Vol. 30; no. 2; pp. 183 - 187
• Main Authors: Gregory, Dianne G., Gooding, Lori F.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford American Music Therapy Association 01-01-2012; Oxford University Press
• Subjects: Documentary films; Internet resources; Music therapy
• ISSN: 0734-6875; 2053-7387
• DOI: 10.1093/mtp/30.2.183

Abstract
Do online music therapy documentary videos effectively and accurately represent the profession to students and the general public? The primary purpose of this study was to answer this question by searching two sources—YouTube and music therapy academic program websites—and examining this sample with a researcher-designed rubric to provide a descriptive summary. In so doing, the findings could provide information for professionals wishing to advocate for music therapy, educate students, and provide guidelines for future developers of online resources. Although very few educational institutions listed by the American Music Therapy Association provided documentaries on their websites, YouTube documentaries by a variety of posters were very prevalent. The largest proportion of YouTube documentary postings were originally created by professional news organizations and were, not surprisingly, effective in conveying objectives within videos of adequate length and audio/visual quality. Content included both video footage of clinical interactions showing clients and music therapists and didactic information through narrative overlays, interviews, and brief talks. However, professional credentials of music therapists were provided less frequently than credentials of non-music therapy interviewees and therapists, which highlighted missed opportunities for informing viewers of professional designations for music therapists. In addition, music therapy orientations were not identified in more than half of the documentaries, which prevented viewers from learning that diverse approaches exist within the music therapy profession. Even with these limitations, comparisons with results from a similar examination of YouTube music therapy session videos suggest that, generally speaking, online music therapy documentaries probably provide a more effective and accurate format for current educational and outreach purposes.