Between down in the dumps and over the moon: Music therapy for young people with depression

Abstract

This chapter introduces a music therapy treatment manual for depressed young people with an emphasis on emotion regulation that is descriptively explained using illustrative examples. A short overview on the current state of research and on treatment approaches for children and adolescents with depression is provided. Recent research that supports the hypothesis of depression mainly being a disorder of emotion regulation involving severe mood disturbances is described. Furthermore, a strong association between music processing and emotion regulation is identified. Since listening to music and associated activities are of major importance to young people, a treatment manual tailored to integrating findings from current music therapy practice and research was developed. The focus of the manual is mainly on stabilization, improvement of emotion regulation, and working on interpersonal relationships, integrating interventions such as playlist creation, improvisation, songwriting, and mindful music listening.