Three families and three music therapists: Reflections on short term music therapy in child and family psychiatry

Abstract

This article describes three pieces of short-term music therapy work with three different families. The work took place in a unit for child and family psychiatry. Three music therapists were involved both in the treatment and in group supervision. They were inspired to write this paper partly because family work and short-term work are still relatively unusual in clinical music therapy. In addition the projects were significant because in all three of the cases described here the parents were enabled, through music therapy, to gain fresh insights into their relationships with their children. Through reflection on the clinical work and study of relevant literature, the authors observed some common trends: • When working with families there appears to be a tendency to focus first on the child's difficulties and then, later in the treatment, on family relationships and the parents’ difficulties. • In many cases involving music therapy work with families, non-verbal, improvised music-making and playful musical exchanges seem to be key components in facilitating family interactions. • The gender and past experience of music therapists carrying out family work can be a point of consideration in order to address the needs of some families.