Resources & references

The purpose of this study was to design and pilot a music therapy-driven grief processing assessment instrument with bereaved adolescents receiving group songwriting interventions. Grief process areas were developed through a descriptive analysis of a total of 123 songs previously written by bereaved adolescents who received weekly music therapy and grief counselling over a period of 36 months. 

A study documenting the practice of three Canadian music therapists who specialize in adolescent mental health. They share their experience, discuss goals within single-session open groups and program structures in brief therapy and the professional skills required for this work.

This chapter in the book Therapeutic Uses of Rap and Hip-Hop, details a unique music therapy songwriting program, Hear Our Voices, and the songwriting process of the Little Saints, a group of “at-risk” fourth-, fifth-, and sixth-grade children in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The authors, who were also the music therapists working with this group, discuss the relevance of Hip-Hop culture, and its musical framework, to the music therapy process, and to the success of the program. 
 

This paper updates an earlier review that encouraged the music therapy community to continuing investigating the efficacy of music therapy in treatment of substance abuse. 12 studies met inclusion for this review. The most common music therapy method to be investigated was lyric analysis, followed by music and imagery methods, and then songwriting. Recommendations include suggestions for reducing bias in future studies and continued research.

Music therapist Tim Ringgold discusses the use of music therapy in substance abuse treatment, outlining his personal journey into the field, the five clinical goals summarized by the S.O.B.E.R. acronym, and related therapeutic interventions.

Read an article on how music therapists in the United States address spiritual needs in individuals with substance use disorders. Results found that a variety of methods are employed, humanistic approaches are the most common, and that both song discussion and lyric analysis were useful in targeting spiritual goals.

Music therapist Kevin Kirkland explains how he uses rapping to help persons with mental health and substance use issues to process their experiences and express themselves.