Daphne Rickson

Daphne Joan Rickson is a New Zealand music therapist and academic, and until 2021 was a lecturer at the New Zealand School of Music. She has contributed to the field of music therapy nationally and internationally. In 2022 she was appointed an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to music therapy. In 2023 Rickson received the World Federation of Music Therapy Lifetime Achievement Award.

Academic career

Rickson was born in Ashburton in Canterbury, New Zealand. She earned an LCTL in pianoforte and theory, and then completed a Master's degree in mental health at the University of Otago. Rickson notes that when she qualified and began working as a music therapist in the 1990s, there were "only a handful of us in the country". Rickson went on to complete a Master's degree in music therapy at Massey University in 2004 and then a PhD titled The development of a music therapy school consultation protocol for students with high or very high special education needs at the New Zealand School of Music (NZSM). Her PhD, completed in 2010, was the first doctoral degree in music therapy in New Zealand.

Rickson joined the faculty of the NZSM. She helped develop a master's programme for music therapy, which began in 2003.

Rickson's research focuses on people with complex needs, and how to use music to enable greater community participation for marginalised children and adults. She investigated how singing could be used to enhance well-being in Christchurch after the earthquakes. She has written more than forty publications and co-authored a book on community music therapy through schools, as well as publishing a history of music therapy in New Zealand. In 2023 Rickson received the World Federation of Music Therapy Lifetime Achievement Award.

Selected works