Musical Intervention in Family Therapy

Abstract

The family therapy approach to treatment is an outgrowth of individual therapy and can present optimal opportunities for the use of music therapy. Three major schools of thought in family therapy—systemic, structural, and strategic—provide treatment objectives that lend themselves to musical intervention. The structural family therapy school of thought in particular lends itself to music intervention due to its concern with balance of power, limits, boundaries, and family roles, which can be addressed through various musical exercises and techniques. Musical intervention within a family therapy context is a new and relatively unexplored avenue of treatment deserving of further research.