Music Therapy with Traumatized Refugees in a Clinical Setting

In the past 20 years music therapy has been used extensively for trauma treatment. Most of the described methods of music therapy in trauma treatment deal with war veterans and victims of maltreatment or sexual abuse (Austin, 2002; Bonny, 1986). Music therapists connected to War Child, an organization working with children in war zones or in post-war environments, describe their experiences with music therapy in situations in which they have to deal with cultural differences and stress-inducing factors. They describe clinical examples and major themes emerging from the ways in which the clients experience their music therapy (Lang & McInerney, 2002).