Due to the unforeseen earthquake that shook up our profession at the end of 2024, the pressure to seek credibility within Western biomedical systems and allied health frameworks has become palpable. Although this pursuit is important and necessary for us to prove our therapeutic functionality within these dominant frameworks, I argue this can come with risks of unintentionally colonising music therapy if we do not balance this with cultural inclusivity. When music therapy is shaped too closely by clinical language and reductive outcomes-based models, we risk replicating colonial dynamics and disconnecting from the cultural and relational richness that music holds for many communities.

In my work with neurodivergent and trauma-affected children, I have observed how cultural values profoundly shape the ways in which families engage with music therapy. In particular, families from cultural backgrounds where music is embedded as a communal, expressive, and functional part of daily life, such as Colombian, Fijian, Pashtun, Tamil, Pakistani, Indian, and Māori, tend to engage with great ease and responsiveness. These families rarely require justification of music’s therapeutic value; rather, they recognise and relate to it as an intuitive part of their cultural and relational world.

This reflection is informed by my clinical practice, academic background, and personal heritage. Prior to training in music therapy, I studied international relations and worked alongside refugee and migrant communities from Burma, Iran, and Afghanistan, contexts in which music often emerged as a tool of resilience, and cultural continuity. Additionally, my Italian and Scottish roots, both steeped in intergenerational creative traditions, have shaped my understanding of music not only as an intervention, but as a way of being.

This reflection invites us, as a profession, to consider how we might balance recognition with cultural responsiveness, and how we can innovate without isolating those who have always appreciated us.