Book dossier

Music of the Soul

by Joy S. Berger

Music has a unique ability to elicit a whole range of powerful emotional responses in people. Throughout history, human beings have compose, performed, and incorporated music into funeral and last rites ceremonies, grief and mourning rituals, and celebrations and remembrances of life. When employed properly, or indeed, even accidentally, music thus has the ability to help a person work through grief and to transcend feelings of loss and pain. Thus the integration of music therapy into grief counseling work would seem a natural progression. In Music of the Soul, Dr. Berger guides the reader through principles, techniques, and exercises for incorporating music into grief counseling, with the end goal of further empowering the grieving person. This interdisciplinary text draws in equal parts from contemporary grief/loss theory, music therapy research, historical examples of powerful music, case studies, and self-reflecting and teaching exercises.