Alan Turry

Alan Turry, DA, LCAT, MT-BC, earned his Bachelor's, Master's, and Doctoral degrees in Music Therapy from New York University. He is a full time faculty member teaching courses in NYU's music therapy graduate program and is the Faculty Liaison to Steinhardt's Nordoff-Robbins Center for Music Therapy.

As the Principal Investigator on key research projects at Nordoff-Robbins, Dr. Turry is spearheading the development of The Music Engagement Scale, a research instrument designed to measure a client’s engagement in music, which is a crucial component of the Nordoff-Robbins music therapy process. Dr. Turry was the recipient of the Arthur Flagler Fultz Research Award in 2012, given by the American Music Therapy Association to support the collaboration between the Center and Rusk Rehabilitation Institute at NYU Medical Center to develop and research an integrated music therapy/occupational therapy stroke rehabilitation program.

Well known for his innovative contributions to the Nordoff-Robbins approach, such as integrating contemporary music styles, improvisation, and improvised songs, and integrating music psychotherapy and community music therapy practice, Dr. Turry has engaged in pioneering research studying the improvisation process and linking elements of music with the verbal-lyrical content of improvised songs. He has published numerous chapters and articles on contemporary developments in Nordoff-Robbins music therapy and is recognized nationally and internationally as a leader in music therapy clinical technique. He has taught and presented his work throughout Asia and Europe and was a visiting lecturer at the Nordoff-Robbins Centre in London. Dr. Turry is on the editorial board of several leading music therapy journals and is a reviewer for Voices, A World Forum of Music Therapy.

Selected Publications

Birnbaum, J., Kandler, Z., Aslan, M., & Hoi Yan Fu, J., Turry, A. (2023). Music Therapy with Autistic Children: Creating an Intersubjective Field of Play through Improvisation. Psychoanalytic Inquiry, 43:3, 232-246, DOI: 10.1080/07351690.2023.2185070.

Turry, A. (2018). Actually, music therapy does work. Music and Medicine, 10(2), 113-114.

Raghavan, P., Geller, D., Guererro, N., Aluru, V., Eimicke, J.P., Teresi, J.A., Ogedegbe, G., Palumbo, A., & Turry, A. (2016). Music upper limb therapy – integrated: An enriched collaborative approach for stroke rehabilitation. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 10:498. doi: 10.3389/fnhum.2016.00498.

Guerrero, N., Marcus, D., & Turry, A. (2016). Poised in the creative now: Principles of Nordoff-Robbins music therapy. In J. Edwards, (Ed.). The Oxford Handbook of Music Therapy. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Guerrero, N., Marcus, D., & Turry, A. (2015). Nordoff-Robbins music therapy. In B. Wheeler, (Ed.). Music Therapy Handbook. New York, N.Y.: Guilford Press.

Guerrero, N. & Turry, A. (2012). Nordoff-Robbins Music Therapy: An expressive and dynamic approach for young children on the autism spectrum. In P. Kern & M.E. Humpal, Early Childhood Music Therapy and Autism Spectrum Disorders: Developing Potential in Young Children and their Families (pp. 130-144). London and Philadelphia: Jessica Kingsley Publishers.

Hartley, M., Turry, A., & Raghavan, P. (2010). The role of music and music therapy in aphasia rehabilitation. Music and Medicine (2) 4, 235-242.

Turry, A. (2009). Integrating Musical and Psychological Thinking: The Relationship Between Music and Words in Clinically Improvised Songs. Music and Medicine, 1(2). 106-116 https://doi.org/10.47513/mmd.v1i2.23

Turry, A. & Turry, A.E. (1999). The use of improvised song for children and adults with cancer. In C. Dileo, Music Therapy and Medicine: Theoretical and Clinical Applications (p. 167-177). Silver Spring, MD: American Music Therapy Association.

Turry, A. (1998). Transference and Countertransference. In K. E. Bruscia (Ed.), The dynamics of music psychotherapy (pp. 161-212). Gilsum, NH: Barcelona Press.