August Book Recommendation: “Music Therapy and Music and Health” by Even Ruud

Even Ruud's Music Therapy and Music and Health is a comprehensive introduction to the field of music therapy and the interconnections between music, health, and therapy. Ruud himself describes the book's purpose quite simply: to provide an overview of music therapy for those new to the field, as well as for anyone interested in the role of music in supporting health and well-being. At the same time, the book offers fresh material for those already familiar with music therapy, bringing together recent research and offering ways to broader conceptualisation and articulation of the field.

Ruud addresses the application of music therapy in education, work with children and youth, mental health, hospitals, rehabilitation, supporting older adults and people living with dementia, and in community settings.

His approach is ecological, relational, and sociocultural: music and health are not viewed as separate phenomena, but as part of a person's relationships, environment, identity, and cultural context. Within this framework, music can support emotion regulation, participation, a sense of belonging, coping, meaning-making, and quality of life.

One of Ruud's best-known concepts is music as a “cultural immunogen”—a cultural resource that can help strengthen individual and community capacity to cope with stress, change, and adversity. Ruud conceptualises health broadly, encompassing psychological, social, and existential dimensions alongside the biological.

The book also introduces approaches and methods used in music therapy, such as improvisation, songwriting, performance, music listening, and various forms of musical participation. As his first English-language, open-access publication, Music Therapy and Music and Health makes Even Ruud's decades of thinking available to a broader international readership.

The book Music Therapy and Music and Health is published by iDETEC Editorial. The work is currently available in English and Norwegian, with Spanish and Portuguese editions forthcoming in the future.

The book can be downloaded for free and read on the iDETEC Editorial website: https://www.idetec.org/_files/ugd/8313d0_fbd09755f01c4caeb4ba5aca5e1b3ba2.pdf