Reflexive journal writing:A tool for music therapy student clinical practice development

Abstract

Reflexive journal writing is used by students in many professions as an education tool to facilitate practice development. A music therapy student’s use of a clinical reflexive journal, written during a cancer hospital placement, is outlined in this paper. A model of music therapy student (MTS) reflexive journal writing is described to explicate the process ofgenerating and integrating new understandings to extend practice. Illustrations of reflexive journal writing demonstrate the usefulness of journaling to inspire new insights and extend MTS’s knowledge. A retrospective analysis revealed that this process is beneficial for (a) understanding contextual influences on practice, (b) connectin..