A comprehensive international collection of writings on music therapy with premature and newborn infants in Neonatal Intensive Care Units. The book includes different approaches to research and clinical practice, based on interdisciplinary knowledge and current research.  The purpose is to show the benefits of music and music therapy as a supportive intervention for hospitalized infants and their parents, by addressing the short- and long-term development of the infant, infant-parent relationships and bonding, and the infant's unfolding ability to communicate. Part One deals with basic theores: the treatment concept, NIDCAP, with its focus on the infant's development and the significance of the auditory system; current research on auditive development; a recent study on attachment formation; the psychoanalytical view of the mother's voice from the onset of prenatal life; and the possibilities of music for regulation and synchronization within relationships. Part Two presents: an overview of individual music therapy approaches in research and clinical practice; qualitative and quantitatve research with functional and psychotherapeutic aspects using a wide range of musics and musical elements. Each chapter contains research as well as clinical practice and experience. The final chapters provide practical advice for implementing music therapy in NICU's. At the end, there is a comprehensive bibliography covering medicine, developmental psychology, psychoanalysis, bonding research, and music therapy. (2004;ISBN 1-891278-20-7, 226 pages, $28

 

Reviews By:

Joke Bradt in Music Therapy Perspectives (2005), 3 (2), pages 152-154

Shannon O’Gorman BMus(Ther)Hons, RMT Child and Youth Mental Health Service; Mater Children's Hospital, Brisbane in The Australian Journal of Music Therapy (2005)

Dikla Kerem in the Nordic Journal of Music Therapy Online Reviews, August 31, 2005

Jacqueline Robarts in the British Journal of Music Therapy, February, 2005