An exciting journey into the development of a general theory of music therapy. Based on Daniel Stern’s concept of vitality affects, the author developed the theory of analogy, which tries to explain how a person in the music “sounds” his or her Self, and how the Self interacts with the environment. The book is based on the philosophical view that language is a limited mode for representing human experience, In the author’s opinion, language is only one way of understanding, based on the verbal modeling of experience; whereas music gives understanding of what is beyond words. From the same angle, the author discusses the meaning of symbolic knowledge versus the intimate knowledge of analogy. This raises the question if a theory in words ever can describe what is beyond words.

The book is the result of many years of theoretical inquiries and naturalistic case study research. It offers an integrated model for answering the question why music therapy helps the client. Each question within the model is linked to topics of music therapy research, such as: the development of treatment goals and interventions, the effectiveness of treatment, and the development of rationales about treatment and effectiveness.

The theory of analogy has been developed by studying the thoughts of music therapists when talking about their work, studying their case studies, and by the authors’ qualitative case study research through many years.

From the perspective of research, the book advocates the qualitative paradigm as a collective inquiry constructing the collective sense of the profession. The theory of analogy is an attempt to integrate music therapy concepts on a more general level, and at the same time, give space to the special: the individual client, the therapist, and music therapy process. Analogy is a general concept that includes special experiences. (ISBN 891278-22-3, Paperback, US $42).