The definition of music therapy based on pragmatism theory;
Looking at the subject goal, application field, operation method and development trend of contemporary music therapy at home and abroad, music therapy has gone far beyond the subject field of applied psychology, that is to say, music therapy is not just a branch of psychotherapy as most people think.
But an independent discipline involving a wider range, so the above definition of brucia can be used as a more comprehensive definition of music psychology rather than a comprehensive definition of music therapy.
In his works such as Entertainment Therapy (published by Nanjing University Press in March, 2000) and Health Preservation and Rehabilitation of Traditional Chinese Medicine (published by China Traditional Chinese Medicine Press in June, 2004), Wang Xudong summed up that the concept and practice of western music therapy include three different ways.
Namely: 1. Clinical model, 2. Entertainment mode, 3. Educational model; Many scientific research results also prove that music therapy not only has psychological effects, but also has obvious physiological effects, such as music prenatal education; In music therapy, music electrotherapy, the combination of music and acupuncture, music qigong therapy and flute therapy,
All these indicate that the subject of music therapy has surpassed the application of psychology and opened up a broader extension of this subject (Music Therapy in Rising China, 2006).
Chen Jingjing pointed out in the article Definition, Formation and Development of Musicotherapy in China (the third issue of Music Exploration in 2004): "Musicotherapy was founded only a few decades ago, and its research field has not been fully demonstrated and developed.
The application of music therapy involves not only psychology, medicine and musicology, but also pedagogy and even many unknown scientific fields. The clinical study of music therapy also shows that its discipline itself does not lie in the study of the relationship with other disciplines.
However, music, as a therapeutic means, is applied to clinical treatment methods and therapeutic effects, so we can't simply define music therapy as a comprehensive discipline integrating psychology, medicine and musicology. At least, we can think that such a definition is not comprehensive for music therapy itself. "
Based on the above theoretical viewpoints put forward by China scholars, music therapy is defined as:
Music therapy is a method to treat diseases or promote physical and mental health based on the practical function of music, according to systematic treatment procedures and by means of music or music-related experiences.
As long as music is used systematically and purposefully as a means to promote people's physical and mental health, its treatment methods and activities should belong to the category of music therapy (Chen Jingjing's Definition, Formation and Development of Music Therapy in China, 2004).