Is Nordoff Robbins music therapy different from other forms of music therapy?
The use of improvisation as a basis for music therapy was pioneered by Paul Nordoff and Clive Robbins in the 1950s and 60s, and today all music therapy approaches used in the UK are primarily improvisation-based (this is not, however, true for all countries). However, music therapists vary in the level of emphasis they place on the inherent therapeutic value of musical experience; some favour a more psychotherapeutic approach in which improvised music is treated analytically to help clients develop greater self-awareness. This has led to a broad distinction between music as therapy and music in therapy, but these terms do not represent exclusive camps so much as a spectrum of practice. The Nordoff Robbins training emphasis is geared towards the former, but music therapists who have trained elsewhere may also be this way inclined. The core beliefs regarding the power of musical experience, on which Nordoff Robbins training programmes are founded, were articulated by Paul Nordoff and Cli
