Not the Child, Not the Parent, but the Relationship Between

[Elizabeth Schwartz]

As a music therapist and a Sprouting Melodies Provider, you have the knowledge and intuition to quickly sense the complex vibes of each parent/child relationship. Part of our goal in Sprouting Melodies is to provide a safe place in the music for supporting or helping repair these early relationships. Although this article looks at children outside of our normal age range, I think it is safe to extrapolate the positive results to our work. What is really exciting is that the style of the study was a randomized controlled trial which funders and administrators are often looking for.

Jacobsen, S. L., McKinney, C.H., and Holck, U. (2014). Effects of a dyadic music therapy intervention on parent-child interaction, parent stress, and parent-child relationship in families with emotionally neglected children: A randomized controlled trial. Journal of Music Therapy 51 (4): 310-332 doi:10.1093/jmt/thu028

Abstract
Objective: The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of a dyadic music therapy intervention on observed parent-child interaction (mutual attunement, nonverbal communication, emotional parental response), self-reported parenting stress, and self-reported parent-child relationship in families at risk and families with emotionally neglected children, ages 5–12 years.
Results: Results of the study showed that dyads who received music therapy intervention significantly improved their nonverbal communication and mutual attunement. Similarly, parents who participated in dyadic music therapy reported themselves to be significantly less stressed by the mood of the child and to significantly improve their parent-child relationship in terms of being better at talking to and understanding their children than parents who did not receive music therapy. Both groups significantly improved in terms of increased positive and decreased negative emotional parental response, parenting stress and stress in general. There were no significant between group differences in self-perceived autonomy, attachment, and parental competence.
Conclusions: The dyadic music therapy intervention examined in this study improved emotional communication between parent and child and interaction after 6 to 10 sessions and can be considered as a viable treatment alternative or supplement for families at risk and families with emotionally neglected children.

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