Music Therapy - Forms - Adolescents With Mood Disorders - Referrals and Assessments

Referrals and Assessments

Adolescents may listen to music for its therapeutic qualities, but that does not mean every adolescent needs music therapy. Many adolescents may go through a period of teenage angst, characterized by intense feelings of strife, caused by the development of their brains and bodies. Some adolescents can also develop more serious mood disorders such as major clinical depression and bipolar disorder. Adolescents diagnosed with a mood disorder may be referred to a music therapist based on observations by the diagnosing physician, therapist, or school counselor/teacher. When a music therapist gets a referral it is important to first assess the patient and create goals and objectives for him/her before beginning the actual music therapy. According to the American Music Therapy Association Standards of Clinical Practice assessments should include the “general categories of psychological, cognitive, communicative, social, and physiological functioning focusing on the client’s needs and strengths…and will also determine the client’s response to music, music skills, and musical preferences” The result of the assessment is used to create an individualized music therapy intervention plan.

There are many different music therapy assessment tools, but one particularly suited to adolescents is the “Music Therapy Assessment for Emotionally Disturbed Children.”,. The term “emotionally disturbed children” refers to a diverse group of diagnoses including behavioral disorders, schizophrenia, affective/mood disorders, autism, anxiety disorders, and attachment disorders. This assessment concentrates not only on the facts of developmental skills but on the quality, content, and development of these affective behaviors. This music therapy assessment tool consists of seven main areas. The assessment starts with an interview with the patient regarding his/her, and their family’s, previous background in music. Next, the music therapist is to assess developmental appropriateness of the patient’s social and emotional functioning while in the music therapy setting, and then assess the patient’s ability to organize his/her musical experience. An important part of the assessment is to follow the changes in musical behaviors exhibited by the patient over the course of the session, and find any possible meanings in these variations. While interpreting the patient’s musical behavior, the music therapist must consider family history, current behavioral problems, affective developmental levels, and the patient’s current diagnosis. Last, the music therapist must investigate musical responses characteristic of the patient’s particular pathology.

Another assessment tool for adolescents is the Beech Brook Music Therapy Assessment . This assessment measures the patient’s behavioral and social functioning, emotional responsiveness, language and communication skills, and musical skills. Beech Brook, a child oriented treatment facility in Cleveland, Ohio, designed this assessment to help evaluate children beginning music therapy and then throughout the music therapy process, and focuses more on the reasons for referral than the previously mentioned assessment. This assessment uses a quantitative numbered scoring system in which the total score indicates an overall trend of behavior exhibited by a client. Both of these assessment tools help the music therapist plan the client’s treatment process and also establish credibility though accountability.