Resources & references

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.

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.

As community spaces for LGBTQ+ individuals continue to expand and evolve, a variety of music and art-based programs have begun to develop. This article seeks to present a therapy program developped by an art therapist and a music therapist, targeted towards transgender, nonbinary, gender creative, and questioning youth, age 10-14, who are seeking support in navigating their gender identity and the challenges of identifying outside of the “norm” of cisgender. At a crossroads between traditional clinical mental health services and community-based approaches, it addresses the intentionality behind “queering” this program development as well as a spectrum of challenges and opportunities faced in piloting the program.

This is a summary of a study, which reveals promising findings for the application of improvisational music therapy in assuaging the multidimensional acute pain of adult patients with sickle cell disease (SCD). 

Karla Hawley, a board certified music therapist in the USA, shares how a nostalgic piece of music helped her address and overcome the pain of childhood abuse. Through her personal testimony, she describes how music can help individuals express their emotions and heal from traumatic experiences.