ITALY

History

As in many countries, the first steps of every new discipline always need some pioneers who, in order to be such, must have strong and charismatic personalities which, in the earliest stages of development, are an invaluable resource, also in terms of the intransigence with which more often than not they defend the “orthodoxy” of their thinking.

This process started halfway through the 70s with the first occasion for national comparison at the Bologna Conference in 1973. A few years later Nora Cervi, at the time director of the Music Course of the Pro Civitate Christiana of Assisi and a person endowed with a rare sensitiveness, kindness and far-sightedness, unfortunately recently passed away, made herself the founder, together with a group of collaborators, of the first Italian Training Course which started, as an experiment, in 1981.

It was during these first years that the debate on the multidisciplinary aspects of music therapy became very heated in the perhaps still somewhat naive search for the “essential component” rather than the most suitable reference “model” or “area of application” for music therapy.

It was still thought that one “music therapy” existed, whereas thankfully over the years it was revealed that many possible and effective music therapies could be identified. During those years there were numerous factors which contributed to the development of music therapy both as an area of practice and as an area of knowledge. On one hand was the growing number of trained professionals who gradually began to spread music therapy into new areas of application and make it known to other professional categories with whom they were then able to confront themselves and their different areas of knowledge. On the other was the increasing contact with representatives of music therapy in Europe and America who contributed to enriching the wealth of knowledge and theoretical references, also thanks to the increase in the circulation of original and translated texts (for example, the writings, lessons and supervisions of Alvin, Benenzon, Bruscia, Bunt, Lecourt, Nordoff-Robbins, Priestley and Wigram).

Music therapy gradually became a recognised and accredited practice spread throughout the country and music therapists began to be present and appreciated within the various social-educational, rehabilitative and therapeutic teams.

In the commotion caused by such a development it is normal that the more responsible operators start to feel the need for regulation of the profession in order to protect against the use of a proliferation of unreliable figures and defend themselves as professional figures. The first associations emerged which, having also the objective of cultural promotion of the discipline, started to gather groups of professionals at a local level who felt the need for more confrontation within the discipline and to see the recognition of what by this stage was for many their main occupation, but which often had to be assimilated into more general or different professional roles in order to fit into the various work contexts.

At the beginning of the 90s the various Regional Associations, which in the meantime had spread considerably, decided to join together to form the Italian Confederation of Music Therapy Associations (Confederazione Italiana Associazioni di Musicoterapia - Conf.I.A.M.) with the objective of including and coordinating the initiatives which were more and more often being proposed in Italy. These initiatives can be classified into the following areas: Informative and for dialogue, Educational, Clinical and Research.

In relation to the first point, information and dialogue, study days, conventions, conferences and publications were promoted on a national level.

In this sense, the Italian Music Therapy Conference took on particular importance. It has been organised every 2 years since 1994 (Ercolano ‘94 , Portoferraio ‘95, Turin ’97, Florence ’99, Naples ’01, Rimini ’03) and allows an internal dialogue and confrontation to be developed between the various positions and practical approaches which are taking shape in the music therapy scene in our country.

The Conferences mentioned have also been an opportunity to distribute publications both coming from the international scene and from the abovementioned lines of thought which are more and more clearly taking shape.

Theoretical Foundations

The real possession both of good musical abilities and of an psychological interpretative model of musical relationship are by now unanimously recognised as being necessary qualities for a music therapist, though with the different emphasis that the various schools place on one or the other.

Thus, both psychodynamic-oriented music therapies and humanistic-existential relational music therapies currently exist as the two main prevalent directions. The emphasis that is placed on the quality of the musical experience, even within the same orientation, is still rather variable. Other than a good level of musical ability and knowledge, which by now all schools request of aspiring music therapists, for some also indispensable is the quality of the musical experience and a style of encountering this experience that the music therapist must have recognised in him/herself in order to be able to become credible witnesses in the therapeutic relationship. Although not many schools make this request yet, it anyhow seems that this will be the path of future development in relation to the specificity of music therapy compared to other approaches for helping people.

Training Programs

A great deal of attention has been paid to the definition of educational criteria. Local undergraduate Training Courses as well as some postgraduate experiences have been promoted throughout Italy by the Associations. Coordination on a national level has allowed identification of some fundamental criteria for organising the educational programme for the undergraduate courses, circulated via their publication in the Student’s Handbook in 1999.

In short, the criteria are the following:

Length of Training Course at least 3 years (from 700 to 1400 hours);

Entrance criteria: Secondary school and excellent knowledge of musical language;

Educational Programme divided into 4 areas: Music Therapy (45%), Music (25%), Psychology (15%) and Medicine (15%);

Practical placement (minimum 250 hours) and Tutoring (minimum 60 hours);

The coordination and monitoring of the courses have produced excellent results in terms of educational standardisation. Collaborations and conventions are currently underway between the training courses and music conservatories and universities with the aim of improving the quality of the courses and above all avoiding the danger of self-referencing which is always present in privately managed Courses.

With reference, lastly, to clinical and research areas I would simply like to indicate how far music therapy practice is spreading to more and more varied areas and how this quantitative increase corresponds to a similar significant qualitative improvement also confirmed by the as yet not numerous but still significant presence of research projects which have the advancement and improvement of clinical practice and the application of music therapy among their main aims.

Professional Associations

Within this reference framework, the F.I.M. (Federation of Italian Associations) was set up in 1998 and A.I.M. (Italian Professional Association of Music Therapy) was set up in June 2002.

The association’s main objectives are the recognition of the professionalism of those who work in this sector and safeguarding the correct practice of their profession.

Among the various aims that the Association has set itself we would like to point out the following aspects:

managing a National Register of Music Therapists comprising three sections: List of Music Therapists, List of Music Therapy Educators and List of Supervisors;

establishing and raising clinical and ethical standards;

being a constant point of reference for all music therapists in Italy;

guaranteeing the correct practice of the profession by the members of the Register;

safeguarding the collective interests of the sector providing consultancy and support;

encouraging the spread of updated information on job opportunities and new work agreements;

encouraging the exchange, publication and distribution of works relevant to music therapy;

establishing and maintaining contact with other music therapists and associations around the world;

maintaining a continuous relationship with the other related professional associations.

In the pursuit of these aims, a ‘Collegio Probi Viri’ has been nominated which will verify that the registered professionals observe the standards in the Code of Ethics.

In particular A.I.M. rules and criteria are at first that 3 specific Registers (Music therapists, Teachers and Supervisors) have been identified, and the relative entrance criteria for all three Registers have been identified and defined.

Recognition

Although it is not the only professional association existing in Italy, F.I.M. and A.I.M. are the Associations which currently represents as a body the highest number of music therapy professionals from various orientations and which is present and active in the process of recognition at a national legislative level within the CNEL (Consiglio Nazionale Economia e Lavoro - National Council for Economy and Labour). The association’s aim is that music therapy be counted among the new professions in the socio-medical sector whose practice will be regulated and recognised by the respective professional associations who have been entrusted with this task by the government.

In reference to this important objective of the express Recognition of Music Therapy, we would like to briefly outline the problem, to go over how this process has taken shape in our country and to identify the path that can lead to obtaining this recognition.

Delegate

Ferdinando Suvini
A.I.M. Presidente Associazione Italiana professionisti della Musicoterapia.
Postal Address
Via Masaccio 72
50132 Firenze Italy
Mobile 0039.329.2315526
Email address: ferdisuvini@libero.it

LITERATURE