Mary Priestley

Mary Priestley, a music therapist from Britain, is credited for development of Analytic Music Therapy, a synthesis of psychoanalytic theory and music therapy. Drawing on the theories of Carl Jung, Sigmund Freud, and Melanie Klein, analytic music therapy involves the use of musical improvisation to interpret unconscious processes.

Mary Priestley developed a model of music therapy known as Analytical Music Therapy (AMT). Born 4 March 1925 in England she was the premarital child of English playwright and author, J. B. Priestley, and mother Jane Wyndham-Lewis. Her father was a vocalist skilled at playing by ear while her mother was a trained pianist. Priestley studied piano, violin, and composition in her youth. Her battle with Bipolar Disorder resulted in psychiatric hospitalizations throughout her life and may be said to have given her insights into psychoanalysis through the combination of verbal processing and nonverbal expression found in improvised music with a structured, purposeful framework. Her interest in music therapy was sparked upon hearing a lecture by music therapist Juliette Alvin. Priestley wrote Music Therapy in Action (1975), subsequently lecturing and educating others in her method. She is currently retired and living in the UK. Temple University (Philadelphia) has created an archive of Priestley’s published writings, along with those of others on the topic of Analytical Music Therapy. Also included are her personal/clinical diaries and audiotapes of clinical work with approximately 75 clients, spanning the period of 1971-1990.