Parents’ perspectives on their child’s music therapy: A qualitative study

Annesley, Luke; Curtis-Tyler, Katherine; McKeown, Eamonn

Abstract

This qualitative study explored parents’ perspectives on their child receiving individual music therapy in a community setting in an NHS service in London, UK. Parents of children aged 6-11 receiving or recently discharged from music therapy took part. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews which were digitally recorded, transcribed and analyzed following procedures of inductive thematic analysis. Music therapy was generally perceived to provide a nurturing environment for children, and communication with music therapists was mostly experienced as helpful, but with some perceived challenges. Parents perceived positive outcomes of music therapy, including children becoming calmer and engaging more with musical activities at home. Understanding of music therapy was perceived as an evolving process for parents. Some parents described a need for more information prior to music therapy. The findings of this study broadly support the model in the service of working with children aged 6-11 without parents generally present during sessions. However, there were indications that, for some families, a more flexible approach might be beneficial for the child. Participants’ commentaries on perceived outcomes for children indicate potential for intervention studies investigating the impact of music therapy, while broader perceptions of the value of music therapy indicate a need for studies exploring reasons for effectiveness.

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Nov 9, 2019
• Online Publication Date: Jan 27, 2020
• Publication Date: Jan 27, 2020
• Deposit Date: May 19, 2020
• Publicly Available Date: Jan 28, 2022
• Journal: Journal of Music Therapy
• Print ISSN: 0022-2917
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 57
• Issue: 1
• Pages: 91-119
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/jmt/thz018
• Keywords: music therapy; children; parents; semi-structured interviews; thematic analysis
• Public URL: https://uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/5986779