Research
Summaries of music therapy research
As part of our commitment to providing evidence-based care, The Harrison Center’s music therapists regularly review summarize important music therapy research relevant to our patients. Please let us know if you have an article or topic you’d like to see summarized here!
How can music therapy benefit the whole family?
Parents and Young Children with Disabilities: The Effects of a Home-Based Music Therapy Program on Parent-Child Interactions
Research from Florida State University examined the impacts of a music therapy program on dyads of parents and their children…
How Can Music Therapy Improve Attention in Adolescents with ASD?
The Effect of Musical Attention Control Training (MACT) on Attention Skills of Adolescents with Neurodevelopmental Delays: A Pilot Study
While previous works have demonstrated music may benefit attention related behaviors in individuals with ASD, researchers from Queens University of Charlotte and Colorado State University emphasized a lack of studies on specific music therapy protocols…
Can music therapy benefit the whole family?
Long-Term Perspectives of Family Quality of Life Following Music Therapy with Young Children on the Autism Spectrum: A Phenomenological Study
A study from the University of Melbourne summarized the challenges that social and communication needs of children with ASD often pose for formation of family connection…
How can music therapy improve attention?
Assessing the Impact of Music Therapy on Sensory Gating and Attention in Children with Autism: A Pilot and Feasibility Study
In an effort to progress understanding of physiological responses to music intervention, researchers from Colorado State University examined the impact of a music therapy protocol on sensory processing and attention in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD)….
Why is Telemusictherapy Important?
The Connected Music Therapy Teleintervention Approach (CoMTTA) and Its Application to Family-Centered Programs for Young Children with Hearing Loss
An article from the Australian Journal of Music Therapy highlights how telemusictherapy has helped increase access to music therapy services and foster interpersonal connections between children and family members/caregivers…
Is telemusictherapy new to COVID-19?
Collaborative Music Therapy via Remote Video Technology to Reduce a Veteran’s Symptoms of Severe, Chronic PTSD
In a case study of a veteran with diagnoses of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and major depressive disorder (MDD), researchers found collaborative telemusictherapy services to be an effective treatment component…
What Other Populations Can Music Therapy Serve? – Adolescents
The Resilience Songwriting Program for Adolescent Bereavement: A Mixed Methods Exploratory Study
In highlighting prior research on health and safety risks of unmanaged grief symptoms, as well as that on benefits of general music therapy for grief reduction, researchers from Drexel University made a case for exploring the impacts of specific music therapy intervention on adolescent bereavement…
What Other Populations Can Music Therapy Serve? – Parkinson’s Disease
Rhythmic Priming Across Effector Systems: A Randomized Controlled Trial with Parkinson’s Disease Patients
Researchers from the Music and Health Science Research Collaboratory at the University of Toronto and the Center for Biomedical Research in Music at Colorado State University investigated effects of rhythmic priming, or preparation of a primary task with presentation of a separate, prior rhythmic task, on the gait of patients with Parkinson’s disease…
More than the Music
The Therapeutic Relationship as Predictor of Change in Music Therapy with Young Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder
In a study of children with ASD, researchers from The Grieg Academy Music Therapy Research Centre in Norway found that quality of the therapeutic relationship between music therapists and children they work with was associated with social skill development…
