Here you will find a range of resources that go into more detail about Music Therapy, the research in the field, and the supporting evidence. Please get in touch for further recommendations.
More about Music Therapy
Books
Music Therapy -Rachel Darnley-Smith & Helen M Patey
How Music Helps in Music Therapy and Everyday Life – Gary Ansdell
Music Therapy: Intimate Notes – Mercédès Pavlicevic
Music Therapy with Adults with Learning Disabilities – Tessa Watson (editor)
Videos
Operation Syncopation – Amelia Oldfield https://youtu.be/gaVtUHOk_RM?si=wW5eR-guAP8t4oQx
Music and Trauma – Nigel Osborne https://youtu.be/OUBsROQVJo4?si=anChpJINgkSSDr5w
Research and Evidence (Open-access where possible)
Erkkilä J, Punkanen M, Fachner J, et al. Individual music therapy for depression: randomised controlled trial. British Journal of Psychiatry. 2011;199(2):132-139. doi:10.1192/bjp.bp.110.085431
Ridder, H. M. O., Stige, B., Qvale, L. G., & Gold, C. (2013). Individual music therapy for agitation in dementia: an exploratory randomized controlled trial. Aging & Mental Health, 17(6), 667–678. https://doi.org/10.1080/13607863.2013.790926
Schneidman, A., Elefant, C., Keren, R., Ben-Shachar, S., & Roe, D. (2023). Group music therapy for people living with mental health conditions in the community: A pilot longitudinal quantitative micro-analysis study. Nordic Journal of Music Therapy, 33(1), 29–47. https://doi.org/10.1080/08098131.2023.2204898
Crabtree, S., Hsu, M.-H., Pool, J., & Odell-Miller, H. (2025). Music Therapist’s use of singing, listening, playing instruments and movement with music to improve cognition and reduce neuropsychiatric symptoms in music therapy for people living with dementia. British Journal of Music Therapy, 0(0). https://doi.org/10.1177/13594575251327948
Christensen, Rikke & Gattino, Gustavo. (2024). Building relationships in music therapy: A case study with a boy with Down syndrome based on transcendental phenomenological analysis. Approaches: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Music Therapy. 10.56883/aijmt.2024.308.
Aalbers, S., Fusar-Poli, L., Freeman, R. E., Spreen, M., Ket, J. C., Vink, A. C., Maratos, A., Crawford, M., Chen, X. J., & Gold, C. (2017). Music therapy for depression. The Cochrane database of systematic reviews, 11(11), CD004517. https://doi.org/10.1002/14651858.CD004517.pub3
Sinnott, S., Buckle, N., Sweeney, A., Karpavičiūtė, S., O’Neill, A., Kroll, T., & Somanadhan, S. (2024). The impact of music on health and wellbeing of children and young people with rare diseases in healthcare settings: A scoping review. British Journal of Music Therapy, 38(2), 101-112. https://doi.org/10.1177/13594575241258820