Getting Better All The Time: Music Therapy with Adolescents Experiencing Mental Health Issues

The diversity of symptoms and responses from adolescents experiencing mental health issues often makes improvements in classroom interactions and achievements difficult to track. To date, there is a paucity of music therapy... [ view full abstract ]

The diversity of symptoms and responses from adolescents experiencing mental health issues often makes improvements in classroom interactions and achievements difficult to track. To date, there is a paucity of music therapy research that shows how these young people can progress in school when music therapy is added to their treatment plan. Research in the area of Arts and Education show that both progress and change does indeed occur when a young person engages in a music programme.

This presentation will describe and discuss a PhD study with adolescents experiencing mental health issues and the quantitative data collected that supports the use of music therapy with this population group. The participants were students enrolled in a specialist high school for adolescents experiencing mental health issues.

Data was collected pre and post study by administering WIAT-II, Australian (Weschler Individual Achievement Test) and BASC-2 (Behaviour Assessment System for Children) to each participant. Data was then collected on a weekly basis from classroom teachers who rated each participant pre, during and post the music therapy session.

Within each music therapy session there were particular music making tools that were standard across all groups including drum circles, song writing, group improvisation, individual improvisation, song sharing, structured music making and therapeutic teaching. The music therapy’s theoretical base was modeled on the Nordoff-Robbins approach. 

Results from the WIAT-II and the BASC-2 show statistically significant improvement/progress in areas such as word reading, mathematics, depression, anxiety and social connection for many of the participating students. These initial results appear to indicate that conducting music therapy with adolescents experiencing mental health issues within a school setting can indeed support and encourage more engagement in the classroom after each music therapy session and may assist in lessening the affect of diagnosed mental health issues within a classroom setting.