A review of attachment theory and internal working models as relevant to music therapy with children hospitalized for life threatening illness

Abstract

A brief review of attachment theory and attachment-focused music therapy literature is presented with respect to the influence of music on a child’s internal working models of their caregiver during hospitalization for a life-threatening illness. The role of music in attachment is described in language common to attachment researchers outside the field of music therapy in an effort to unify terminology between therapeutic disciplines. Two possible pathways are proposed by which the child-caregiver attachment relationship can be a focus of a music therapy session when working with children hospitalized with life-threatening illness. Case vignettes provide examples of these proposed pathways.