Music as a Bridge to the Therapeutic Alliance
Music can play a powerful role in the therapeutic relationship between an adolescent client and the therapist (i.e. social worker, clinician, school counselor, etc.). There is less research in this vein, but the findings to date demonstrate the potentially profound impact music can have on the therapeutic relationship. Given music’s prominent role in adolescents’ lives, it is typically viewed by adolescents as a positive and non-threatening form of therapy, which is particularly beneficial when working with distrusting, skeptical or hard to reach teens. Therefore, it is not surprising that music has proven successful in facilitating engagement in the therapeutic process with minimal resistance as adolescents are able to relate to the music and the therapist becomes viewed as a trusted and safe adult.
Moreover, therapists using music techniques in their practice have found that music often opens the lines of communication between them and their clients, which is essential to facilitating real progress and change. Because music provides a familiar, “safe, non-confrontative means of expression,” it helps adolescents develop more positive and socially acceptable ways of releasing anger, fears, and anxieties (Keen, 2004), while simultaneously increasing self-esteem, self-awareness, self-confidence and overall well-being in adolescents.
Additionally, utilizing music in therapeutic work with adolescents has shown to help them regulate their emotions, which is incredibly beneficial during a developmental period characterized by heightened emotions that adolescents are in the process of learning how to self-regulate.
References:
- Dingle, G.A., Hodges, J., & Kunde, A. (2016). Tuned in emotion regulation program using music listening: Effectiveness for adolescents in educational settings. Frontiers in Psychology, 7, article 859.
- Keen, A. (2004). Using music as a therapy tool to motivate troubled adolescents. Social Work in Health Care, 39(3-4), 361-373.
- Kivland, M. J. (1986). The use of music to increase self-esteem in a conduct disordered adolescent. Journal of Music Therapy, 23(1), 25-29.
- Lochner, S.W., & Stevenson, R. G. (1988). Music as a bridge to wholeness. Death Studies, 12, 173-180.
- Papinczak, Z., Dingle, G. A., Stoyanov, S. R., Hides, L., and Zelenko, O. (2015). Young people’s use of music for wellbeing. J. Youth Stud. 18, 1119–1134