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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Gold, C., Saarikallio, S.H., McFerran, K. (2018). Music Therapy. In: Levesque, R.J.R. (eds) Encyclopedia of Adolescence. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-33228-4_203
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-33228-4_203
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