Abstract

This research study explores the development of a therapeutic songwriting-based program intervention for adolescents in inpatient mental health care contexts.The related literature looked at how music therapy songwriting methods are used to address the psychosocial strengths and needs of youth in inpatient mental health care, particularly, needs of emotional processing, identity formation, and being connected, as reported by McFerran et al., (2019). The intervention research design followed the first one-and-a-half steps of the Fraser and Galinsky (2010) model. These steps included an analysis of risk and protective factors through deductive coding of relevant literature, which led to a program theory. The program intervention protocol involves a referral, an intake, and a three-phase model that is ideally realized within three 45- to 60-minute individual sessions. The phases of the model are
(1) assessment, (2) free writing and exploration, and (3) structured implementation leading to the completion of a song composition. Music therapists using this program intervention should have
knowledge of adolescents’ unique mental health care needs, be proficient in a variety of music genres, and have a flexible therapeutic approach. Future research could aim to develop the
intervention further and to evaluate the effects of its implementation in an inpatient adolescent psychiatric unit.