Resources & references

Discover the story of a teenage boy living with Angelman Syndrome, who received music therapy sessions to support goals such as communication, motor skills, and concentration. Watch as he plays instruments and participates in vocal activities, and hear reflections from his mother and music therapist on his treatment and development.

Charlotte Stewart, a board-certified music therapist, sings a hello song to a child during an individual music therapy session, helping the child develop their verbal communication skills through singing.

This book presents models of music therapy for families across diverse clinical settings, with international contributors sharing approaches and case studies that link theory to practice and address each model’s challenges and relevance.

This video features twin brothers diagnosed with autism and cerebral palsy who received individual music therapy sessions. Watch as they play instruments and sing to strengthen their communication, expression, and collaboration, and hear insights from their mother and music therapist in interviews.

This reference book examines how music therapy complements traditional treatments for active military service members, veterans, and their families affected by traumatic brain injury (TBI) and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), highlighting its benefits in individual and group sessions, and the potential of virtual settings.

This literature review examines music therapy treatment with active military service members and veterans. Common session formats and music experiences, the development of music therapy as a a profession, and gaps within the current body of research are discussed.

This fact sheet, developed by the American Music Therapy Association, describes how music therapy is effective in supporting military service members and veterans. It describes how active and receptive music experiences can address physical, cognitive, communication, social, and emotional goals.

This chapter of the book Music and War in the United States offers a definition of music therapy and a brief history of the music therapy profession. It incudes a detailed review of the long history of using music therapy within the American military.

Click here to view the full book.

 Music therapy can uniquely help severely injured children and their families deal with the events surrounding an accident and its aftermath. The use of music therapy in treating these families on a pediatric service is described and illustrated with a fracture patient and a burn patient

Research article about how neurologic music therapy can enhance neurorehabilitation among stroke patients, traumatic brain injury, autistic individuals, and those with learning disabilities.

This thesis details a qualitative study on music therapy process resulting in the new concept of musico-relational competence. The project began with an exploration of music processes in the context of outpatient adult psychiatry. An ethnographic and ethnomusicological approach to the analysis of the video data (including music analysis) is used, focusing on the meaning making process of participants in the study.

Music therapist and researcher Mark Ettenberger explains what music therapy is, who it can benefit, how it can be applied, and what are its therapeutic benefits.