Resources & references

Legacy work is the process of creatively expressing and documenting one's life, with the goal of leaving the legacy for future generations. Music therapists can offer unique opportunities to create legacy work due to the music medium that is the basis of their work. Three contrasting case studies, incorporating patient, family and therapist perspectives, are presented to illustrate music therapy legacy work.

 This article describes different techniques, interventions and outcomes of teens during cancer treatment. They describe how writing lyrics, making videos helped them get through grueling treatment and connect with others, study found.

Music therapist Deforia Lane shares her experience of how music therapy has been used to help an unborn child. Dr Lane also takes you inside University Hospital Seidman Cancer Center to experience first hand the response of their patients to music therapy.

In this video, a music therapist presents his study about music therapy interventions for adults with sickle cell disease (SCD).  The full study is also available: click here to read it.

Music therapy is offered at the Foothills Medical Centre intensive care unit in Calgary. It is part of an expanded music therapy program that is helping patients in palliative care, stroke victims, and others.

This video presents the testimony of a patient in rehabilitation and the explanations from a music therapist, at the Foothills Medical Centre in Calgary.

Click here to read the related article.

This video shows work by music therapist Carolyn Williams with children at Sick Kids Medical Hospital, in Toronto. Parents talk about the impact that music therapy has had on the development and the recovery of their child, while the music therapist comments on the actions and reactions of the children in the video. 

The aim of this study was to determine the efficacy of a single music therapy session to reduce pain in palliative care patients. This research validates that a single music therapy intervention incorporating therapist-guided autogenic relaxation and live music was effective in lowering pain in palliative care patients.

The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of music therapy support groups (MTSG) on physical, psychological, and social functioning of cancer patients and caregivers. A mixed-methods approach was used, including an experimental, randomized, controlled trial and qualitative data from participant comments. The experimental group demonstrated statistically significant changes pre- to post-session in (a) pain in three sessions; (b) mood, stress, and anxiety in all six sessions; and (c) quality of life in two sessions.

This feasability study explores the effects of short-term individual music therapy sessions among adults with substance use disorder (SUD) and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Results show that music therapy can reduce hyperarousal and increase self-regulation, attention, and cognitive functioning in this population.

 Bi-annual online journal, whose purpose is to disseminate current knowledge and information about music therapy education, clinical practice, and research worldwide.

Julien Peyrin is part of the team of music therapists working at this hospital. With his Handpan, Julien creates links with the adolescents of our psychiatric unit. Through musical exchanges with them, he allows them to manage their emotions through creation. Patients write and record their songs or musical performances and choose music that calms them or helps them fall asleep. They also have the opportunity to release excess energy by playing a percussion instrument. This non-judgmental therapeutic approach is proving successful. Not only do patients report feeling progress at the end of their sessions, some even report discovering a new passion!