Resources & references

An online destination for discovery & deeper understanding.

Check back often as we add more resources.

Our website is an ever-growing hub of reference material for anyone interested in learning more about music therapy: videos, presentations, interviews, articles, research papers, information about the profession of music therapist and other documents to better understand music therapy and its benefits.

By default, all resources are listed (as shown on drop-down menu to the left of the screen, on yellow background).  You can select a category from that menu or keep looking at all resources.  Then type words into the search bar to choose keywords that will to help refine your search. Every keyword added will increase the precision of the search and limit the number of results. These are listed in alphabetical order of titles. 

If you don't find what you are looking for, please contact us so we can help.

If you have references to propose that we could add to our database, please use this Resource Sharing Form.

28 results
Music Therapy For Grief and Loss
2017
Language
English
Source / Publisher
Utah Music Therapy

This video features an interview with Utah Music Therapist Heather Fellows, SCMT, MT-BC. She discusses the ways in which music therapy can assist those faced with  grief to learn how to process, cope and walk through the journey of bereavement.

Music therapy helping to work through grief and finding a personal identity
1999
Author
Henk Smeijsters, José van den Hurk
Language
English
Source / Publisher
Journal of Music Therapy

This article describes a qualitative single-case study of the treatment of a woman having problems with grief and finding a personal identity. The music therapist used several techniques of improvisation to support the client's cautious steps into a new musical and a new personal world.

Music Therapy in Bereavement Care
2019
Author
Laurel Young
Language
English
Subtitle
English
Source / Publisher
CREGÉS - CAU en gérontologie sociale

This video features a presentation by Dr. Laurel Young, PhD, MTA, about music therapy in bereavement care. This presentation provides an overview of music therapy in bereavement care. Dr. Young will review existing literature and share examples from her own clinical work and research. She also makes recommendations for future practice and research. 

Music Therapy in End-of-Life Care Contexts
2024
Author
Amy Clements-Cortés, Sara Klinck
Language
English
Source / Publisher
Scolarly Community Encyclopedia

This brief entry is a summary of a peer-reviewed article. It explains succinctly what is music therapy in palliative care. 

Music Therapy in Substance Abuse Treatment with Tim Ringgold
2019
Author
Tim Ringgold
Language
English
Subtitle
English
Source / Publisher
WRAMTAS

A music therapist presents the use of Music Therapy in Substance Abuse Treatment. He starts by describing life experiences that led him to music therapy. Then, he goes on to discuss the 5 main clinical goals to use when working with this population (which work into the S.O.B.E.R. acronym). Suggested interventions and more are also covered.

Musicothérapie : Bande à part chez Les Impatients
2011
Language
French
Source / Publisher
Bande à part

Les Impatients is an organization that helps people who have mental health problems, offering art-based services. With Dany Bouchard, a certified music therapist, and people participating in his group music therapy sessions, the reporter Alexandre Courteau explored this discipline that is still not very well known. After one hour of musical improvisation, some participants accepted to share how music therapy has changed their life.

Musicothérapie et santé mentale : l’expérience de musicothérapeutes québécois
2017
Author
Guylaine Vaillancourt
Language
French
Source / Publisher
Revue officielle de l’Association canadienne des musicothérapeutes

The objective of this phenomenological research is to document the experience of music therapists practicing in mental health with adults receiving services in community and hospital settings in Quebec. Reflections, recommendations, research ideas, and the results of interviews are presented here. It is hoped that this work will help to foster the use of music therapy practices in mental health, an innovative and creative approach.

Qué es la musicoterapia? - Carla Navarro, Pedro Vinuesa et al.
2015
Language
Spanish
Subtitle
Spanish
Source / Publisher
Neuras Ciencia

This video (in Spanish) includes interviews from Carla Navarro, Pedro Vinuesa, María Martínez-Gil, and Paula Ramirez who are music therapists in Spain. They explain what music therapy is, who can benefit, and how it can help people of all ages. Clients who received music therapy also describe how music therapy improved their life.

Qué es la musicoterapia? - Marcela Lichtensztejn
2009
Language
Spanish
Subtitle
Spanish
Source / Publisher
Fundación INECO

In this video (in Spanish), Marcela Lichtensztejn, a music therapist in Argentina, provides a description of music therapy. She explains what music therapy is, its therapeutic benefits, how it can be applied clinically, who can benefit, and how it can affect the brain. Please note that the sound quality in the second half of the video is inaudible.

Role of Music Therapy in Palliative Care—Methods and Techniques
2024
Author
Ramesh Bhuvaneswari
Language
English
Source / Publisher
Journal of Palliative Care

This paper hopes to provide an insight into the role of music therapy as a Salutogenic approach within a biopsychosocial framework and its need to be accepted in the Indian context. Music therapy may play the role with preventative and curative periods of treatment, as well as support to cope and acceptance toward the inevitable for the patient as well for the caregivers. Music therapy provides a biopsychosocial and holistic approach to palliative care.

Spirit of Giving: Dans la rue music therapy
2010
Author
ctvmontreal.ca
Language
English
Source / Publisher
CTV News

This article describes the music therapy program at "Dans La Rue", a Montreal organization for homeless youth. Testimonials are given from some of the youth that have participated in this program, and the program's music therapist explains why music therapy can be beneficial.

The role of songwriting in accepting visual impairments
2023
Language
English
Source / Publisher
ArtEZ

This story explores the research of Jorien Habing, a master’s student in Music Therapy at the ArtEZ, University of the Arts in Netherlands, who is one of the few music therapists in the Netherlands working with people with visual impairments. She explains: "Music therapy plays a role in facilitating the acceptance process of blindness." For her final research, Jorien examined the role of songwriting to help individuals in this new target population adjust to living with visual impairment.