Resources & references

This article describes how musical interaction can contribute to bonding and early interaction for children with visual impairments (aged 1–4 years) and their caregivers, who participated in music therapy sessions over 10 weeks. This article discusses the findings in the broader perspective of disability studies and community music therapy, and argues that music therapy promotes positive interactions and empowerment of children with visual impairment and their caregivers.

The COVID-19 pandemic created a major transformation in the delivery of music therapy services worldwide as they moved online. Parents and their children with visual impairment participated in online music therapy sessions. Parents indicated that the programme was a valuable family resource that supported bonding and interaction. A discussion of the findings is followed by implications for practice.

 This scoping review explores Bruscia’s (1987) clinical techniques for improvisational music therapy as they relate to music therapy in autism research to determine the most commonly used clinical techniques in music therapy with clients with autism. The work was undertaken as a preliminary step in a pilot study to explore how the techniques can be represented in terms of individual ways of playing, musical relationships; and how the use of the techniques impacts the participant’s experience of musical connection, influence, and expression

This study aimed to investigate clinical effectiveness of a structured eight-week mindfulness-based music therapy (MBMT) program on improving mood regulation in older women with blindness. 

This phenomenological study aims to document the practice of music therapy in adolescent mental health, and more specifically the brief therapy sessions carried out with groups of adolescents. Through semi-structured interviews, three Canadian music therapists, working primarily in mental health with adolescents, share their professional experience. Three main themes emerged: (a) the main goals addressed in this type of context, (b) the program structures generally established, and (c) the professional skills required.

Informed by personal experiences, queer autoethnographic research, and literature from the fields of speech-language pathology, vocal pedagogy and music therapy, this paper is an introduction to gender affirming voicework in music therapy, the training that it might involve, and several questions/issues that need further exploration. As a new holistic method grounded in a queer theoretical framework, the author envisions this work to be a therapeutic space focused on accessing and embodying affirming gender expressions by working with the intersections of the physical voice, the psychological voice, and the body as these each become relevant to an individual.

This paper conceptualises songwriting as an ‘after-queer’ approach for exploring notions of gender and sexuality with young people. The article draws on songs created by seven groups of young people in music-based workshops which took place in schools with participants aged between 14–17. Songwriting was used to explore the participants' imaginings of what gender might look like in their "perfect world". The paper highlights the value of creative and arts-based methodologies in queer research, through which expansion and questions of possibility, alternative, and identity can be raised and responded to.

In 1997, a music therapy program was first piloted in a community mental health clubhouse and six months later expanded to five community mental health group homes, in British Columbia, Canada. An article published in 2000 described the predominantly song-based approach of that program and documented the participant's evaluation of it, concluding that the client-centred empowerment model of consumer inclusiveness appeared to contribute significantly to the rehabilitative effect of the program. In this article published in 2020, the authors report on the current status of the program, including new data.

This research paper offers a theoretical perspective of recovery as an integral part of modern mental health services. It presents the views of four music therapy researchers situated in Australia, Ireland, Norway, and the United Kingdom. This article elaborates on the implications of music therapy as a recovery-oriented practice and includes recommendations to maximize support for recovery of mental health patients.

This is a Cochrane Review (intervention) addressing music therapy for people with substance use disorders. The objective was to compare the effect of music therapy in addition to standard care versus standard care alone, or to standard care plus an active control intervention, on psychological symptoms, substance craving, motivation for treatment, and motivation to stay clean/sober. The review outlines the search methods, selection criteria, data collection and analysis, results, and the authors' conclusions.

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.

As community spaces for LGBTQ+ individuals continue to expand and evolve, a variety of music and art-based programs have begun to develop. This article seeks to present a therapy program developped by an art therapist and a music therapist, targeted towards transgender, nonbinary, gender creative, and questioning youth, age 10-14, who are seeking support in navigating their gender identity and the challenges of identifying outside of the “norm” of cisgender. At a crossroads between traditional clinical mental health services and community-based approaches, it addresses the intentionality behind “queering” this program development as well as a spectrum of challenges and opportunities faced in piloting the program.