Resources & references

This article examines the impact of music therapy on adults participating in employment training programs or actively seeking work, after receiving online music therapy sessions designed to enhance emotional regulation and stress management. Music therapy significantly improved emotional resilience, overall well-being, and employability among participants.

This study explores the effects of singing on respiratory function, voice, mood, and quality of life for people with quadriplegia. Results showed that group music therapy can have a positive effect on physical outcomes, mood, energy, social participation, and quality of life.

This study shows that maternal singing during neonatal hospitalization can reduce anxiety and support wellbeing and early bonding after preterm birth, though mothers may need guidance and privacy to feel comfortable.

This study examined whether music therapy is was beneficial among adults with sickle cell disease and chronic pain. Interviews revealed that participants learned new self-management skills and that music therapy improved their ability to cope with pain.

Click here to watch a video about this study.

The European Music Therapy Confederation was founded in 1991, as a forum for exchange between music therapists in Europe. The EMTC is a confederation of professional music therapy associations, working actively to promote the further development of professional practice in Europe, and to foster exchange and collaboration between member countries.

Since the 2015 Canadian legalization of medical assistance in dying (MAiD), many Canadian music therapists have become involved in the care of those requesting this procedure. This qualitative study, the first of its kind, examines the experience of music therapy within MAiD, exploring lived experience from three perspectives: the patient, their primary caregiver, and the music therapist/researcher.

Songwriting, used in many cultures as a mourning practice, can inform bereavement music therapy sessions and research. This study explored the perspectives of three Cape Breton Island songwriters and found it supports grief expression, personal growth, and connection.

This study evaluated the feasibility and potential benefits of a drum circle activity designed to improve the affective experience of patients, families and staff in a large pediatric hospital. This preliminary study supports the usefulness of group drumming to enhance the well-being of pediatric hospital patients, families and staff.

This article examines as a clinical report two years of an ongoing music therapy journey with a young woman with autism. The different phases of the music therapy process are investigated from a relational point of view, explaining the therapeutic choices made by the therapist. including the application of theory of "Forms of vitality".

This article is a narrative review which offers background information on palliative care music therapy, and reports the authors’ viewpoints and reflections on supervision strategies and models employed with music therapy interns in palliative care settings based on their experiences. Approaches are shared on supporting pre-professionals as they begin working in palliative care contexts, as well as implications for supervision practices.

Click here to read a summary of the article.

The discipline of music therapy is practiced differently across the globe and over the years, in all regions of the world, the number of music therapy training programs has expanded. This article focuses on the challenges and issues faced by the discipline of music therapy and health in general, based on the analysis of systemic issues in education and training, social issues, and significant issues such as multiculturalism, equity, and race around the world.

This qualitative study explored the experiences of informal caregivers of older adults who took part in group telehealth music therapy. Semi-structured interviews with 5 women caregivers were conducted. Through a thematic analysis process, the following themes were identified: (a) affordances of group telehealth music therapy, (b) challenges of group telehealth music therapy, and (c) music as a health resource. Telehealth considerations, clinical implications, as well as ways to support caregiver agency are discussed.