ABSTRACT
In this chapter, I set the context for this book project situated predominantly in the United States. I argue that given the current context, mental health needs to be brought to the forefront of discussion in music education. I then introduce this book project which centers the ideas, experiences, and philosophies of 15 music educators with experiences of Madness and/or distress in order to consider what practices we might put in place in music education to support individuals with such experiences in our field and in our classrooms. I share the research questions that oriented the project and explicate my own positionality in relation to this topic. I then briefly explain sanism—the discrimination faced by people with experiences of Madness and distress—and situate this project in Mad Studies. Subsequently, I share the demographics of participants. Then I point to the importance of considering systems and engaging in interdisciplinarity. Ultimately, I explicate the contrapuntal methodology (Said, 1993) that guided this project and share an outline of the book.
