Understanding the Cross-Cultural Experience of US-trained Music Therapists from East Asia

The purpose of this phenomenological study was to explore the lived experience of cultural differences that US-trained music therapists from East Asian countries had during their education. Also, the researcher examined how the participants adapted their learning in the US for their professional work for their East Asian populations. Seven female and one male music therapists from Korea, Japan and Hong Kong were individually interviewed by the researcher. The result of data analysis yielded two themes and five categories (a) Experience of cultural difference in US-trained music therapists (Asian cultural experiences and cultural experience in the US); (b) Cultural adaptation of learning in the US (providing structure, different words for therapy and no need for modification). Finally, this study suggested that it was significant to examine two different cultural experience of East Asian music therapy students who are training in the US because it would provide useful information on basic differences in the participants’ cross-cultural experiences and how it might shape their professional work in a cultural context.