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Music Therapy

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Encyclopedia of Adolescence

Overview

Music therapy (MT) is a therapeutic method where music is used as a medium for interaction, expression, and communication, in addition to interaction based on verbal language as in more traditional forms of psychotherapy. The rationale for using music as a potentially powerful therapeutic medium may be related to the important psychological role music plays in adolescents’ everyday life. Music has been shown to support adolescents’ psychosocial development in the areas of identity, interpersonal relationships, agency, and emotions. MT is applied to adolescents with a variety of mental disorders and other health-related or psychosocial problems. Goals of MT may be broad and are often related to identity development. Modes of working include improvisation, songs, music listening, and verbal reflection connected to the music experience. There is strong (i.e., randomized) research evidence to support the application of MT for clients with depression, schizophrenia, and autism, as...

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. GAMUT, Uni Health, Lars Hilles gate 3, 5015, Bergen, Norway

    Christian Gold

  2. Department of Music, University of Jyväskylä, Jyväskylä, Finland

    Suvi H. Saarikallio

  3. School of Music, University of Melbourne, 3010, Victoria, Australia

    Katrina McFerran

Authors
  1. Christian Gold
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  2. Suvi H. Saarikallio
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  3. Katrina McFerran
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Christian Gold .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Indiana University, 302 Sycamore Hall, Bloomington, IN, 47405, USA

    Roger J. R. Levesque

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© 2011 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC

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Gold, C., Saarikallio, S.H., McFerran, K. (2011). Music Therapy. In: Levesque, R.J.R. (eds) Encyclopedia of Adolescence. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-1695-2_203

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-1695-2_203

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4419-1694-5

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4419-1695-2

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