Resources & references

Watch music therapist Karen Hook describe how she uses music therapy with autistic children and children with learning disabilities. 

Click here to watch part 2 of the documentary.

This book highlights how music and music therapy can benefit children, showing how music therapists use music to support their physical and psychological well-being.

Leticia Prieto Alvarez, a music therapist at Hebrew Senior Life, explains the benefits of music therapy for older adults and provides examples of active music therapy experiences in group and individual settings. 

Watch how certified music therapist  Amy Smith supports children in a pediatric hospital setting, with specific examples from neonatal intensive care (NICU) and rehabilitation.

Watch a video demonstrating some of the uses of music therapy at the Montreal Chinese Hospital. Music therapist Josephine Lee sings in both Cantonese and Mandarin. Interviews are also featured in French, English and Mandarin about both the music therapy services and the Montreal Chinese Hospital Foundation in general.

Watch how music therapy is provided in a pediatric hospital setting to work on a variety of goals with children with diverse needs.

This article explains how music therapy can help people cope with grief in a variety of ways. It can help create connection with a deceased loved one. It can help those grieving to explore spirituality (hope and meaning in life) and deal with challenging emotions. Many people have an intimate connection to the songs that have helped them through bereavement.

In this video, an incredible family shares their story of how Music Therapy at Camp Kerry improved their lives after the death of their loved one.

This study reviews existing research to compare the effects 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.

Music therapy allows children with visual impairment to reach their goals and develop their motor, cognitive and communications skills. Children who are part of the group explain why they enjoy music therapy. 

This study employed an online survey to investigate current approaches, clinical interventions, and outcome measures used by music therapists working with young children with acquired communication impairments (ACIs)  to address language- and communication-oriented goals. Among the diverse range of interventions employed by music therapists, song singing, vocal improvisation, and music and play emerged as the most effective techniques for supporting individuals with ACIs in achieving their goals. 

Watch music therapist, Sarra Erb, use singing to help babies in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) to assist their development.