Crowe, B. (2004). Music and soulmaking: Toward a new theory of music therapy. Lanham, MD: Scarecrow. 436 pages. ISBN 0-8108-5143-1. $54.95

Crowe, B. (2004). Music and soulmaking: Toward a new theory of music therapy. Lanham, MD: Scarecrow. 436 pages. ISBN 0-8108-5143-1. $54.95. As practitioners who use music as the principal therapeutic agent, I believe that we enter into our work with certain beliefs, expectations, and intentions. We often carry a "knowing" about what the potential of our therapeutic medium can do. Sadly, seldom do these "knowings" form the foundation of solid science and research nor are we able to communicate to the scientific world what we see before our very eyes. This new offering by Barbara Crowe is an effort to bring understanding to the very things that we experience in therapeutic setting, not from an empirical, research-based perspective, but from a much broader and more inclusive model that embraces the very nature of reality. Based on the relatively new field of complexity science, Crowe provides a new paradigm with which we can view the impact of music on the whole person. This paradigm goes beyond the traditional models of research; it reaches past the basic need to know every inch of what is "going on before our very eyes." Professor Crowe, when stating that the empirical method (of research) leaves out a large body of human experience, concurs with earlier writings by Bruscia that suggest that reducing human beings to one or two dimensions overlooks the complexity of the subjective experience. Both authors acknowledge that we are much more than one- or two-dimensional objects. Determinism simply does not recognize our uniqueness as a species, particularly as it relates to the complexity of the subjective experience. Crowe states that ". . . music can be therapeutic, but reducing this process to only small, measurable effects does not explain what is really happening. Music therapy must be looked at as a whole process in all its frustrating, beautiful complexity" (p. xv). Complexity science may be considered "the science of the real, practical, messy world" (p. 31 ). When understood this way, we can begin to see a validation of the music therapy process (which is often messy in and of itself), not from a neat, linear, and empirically scientific viewpoint, but from a position that "focuses on hidden patterns, nuances in complex systems, and the sensitivity of real things" (p. 30). In discussing the process of music therapy, Crowe recognizes that through the view of complexity science, music therapy is not a simple sum of its parts, rather it is a complex process that, when fully manifest, results in new "emergent properties" that are novel features of this process, yet fully separate of its constituent parts. In the case of therapeutic intervention through music, these new emergent properties may well be in the areas of body, mind, emotion, or spiritual growth. Professor Crowe addresses specific areas where music therapy has a strong history. Her research is extensive and thorough, and there is little if any relevant research that has gone untouched in building her case toward her new theory of music therapy. As she reviews "Music Therapy and Problems of Brain and Mind" (Chapter 4), her details around the brain and brain structure are very well written. Integrated into this discussion is the impact of sound on the brain as well as a fine coverage of the extant research within our profession. Again, through the view of complexity science, Crowe demonstrates the potential impact of music and music therapy on the functioning of the brain and mind, be it through cognitive rehabilitation, sensory integration, or the enhancement of the elusive principles of consciousness itself. When discussing "Music Therapy and Problems of the Body" (Chatper 5), Music and Soulmaking considers the wide range of possibilities under this heading. Included is a discussion of music and medical specialties, brain chemistry, motor rehabilitation as well as vibroacoustics. Much to her credit, Crowe does not discriminate between the traditional practices within our field and the new and emerging models of music and health. …