Music Therapy: Building Bridges Between a Participatory Approach and Trauma-informed Care in a Child Welfare Setting

Viggo Kruger; Dag Ø. Nordanger; Brynjulf Stige

doi:10.15845/voices.v18i4.2593

Authors

Viggo Kruger GAMUT, University of Bergen, Norway; Aleris Care Norway
Dag Ø. Nordanger
Brynjulf Stige GAMUT, University of Bergen, Norway; GAMUT, NORCE Norwegian Research Centre, Norway

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.15845/voices.v18i4.2593

Keywords:

music therapy, child welfare, social work, trauma-informed care, participation

Abstract

Despite a growing interest in music therapy within child welfare practice, music therapy practices within these contexts are still under-researched in Norway. The present study takes a collaborative community music therapy practice as its point of departure. We interviewed nine social workers aged 30–55 from four different child welfare institutions about their ideas on the advantages and disadvantages of music therapy as an approach to promote mental health and development. Informants’ ideas about the benefits of music therapy circled around four main themes: a) safety and well-being, b) relationships and mastery, c) dealing with complex emotions, and d) continuity and stability, across situations. Findings show that the social workers’ reflections around music therapy correspond with child welfare issues such as trauma-informed care and participation.

Author Biographies

Viggo Kruger, GAMUT, University of Bergen, Norway; Aleris Care Norway

Krüger is Associate Professor at GAMUT, University of Bergen, and he is music therapist and researcher for Aleris Care Norway. Krüger is chair of Norwegian Association for Music Therapy (NFMT) and member of the editorial board for journal “Norges Barnevern” (Norwegian Child Welfare). He is also chair of Community Music Therapy Project, “Come Closer”. Since 1987 Krüger has been full member of Norwegian Grammy award winner band Pogo Pops.

Dag Ø. Nordanger

Dag Ø. Nordanger, Doctor Psychol., is specialist in clinical psychology at the Western Norway Trauma Resource Centre (RVTS west), were he was the former Director, and Professor in psychology at the Western Norway University of Applied Sciences. He is the founding coordinator of CACTUS, a network across Norwegian competence centres building competence in the field of developmental trauma. His research and current engagements involve interventions to prevent child abuse and neglect, and approaches to facilitate a healthy development for those exposed, including music therapy.

Brynjulf Stige, GAMUT, University of Bergen, Norway; GAMUT, NORCE Norwegian Research Centre, Norway

Stige is Professor of Music Therapy at the University of Bergen and Head of GAMUT – The Grieg Academy Music Therapy Research Centre, University of Bergen & Uni Research Health, Norway. Stige has founded two international peer-reviewed journals (Nordic Journal of Music Therapy and Voices: A World Forum for Music Therapy). He is currently the founding leader of POLYFON knowledge cluster for music therapy. Stige’s research explores relationships between music therapy, culture, and communities of practice.

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Music Therapy

Building Bridges Between a Participatory Approach and Trauma-informed Care in a Child Welfare Setting

Authors

DOI:

Keywords:

Abstract

Author Biographies

Viggo Kruger, GAMUT, University of Bergen, Norway; Aleris Care Norway

Dag Ø. Nordanger

Brynjulf Stige, GAMUT, University of Bergen, Norway; GAMUT, NORCE Norwegian Research Centre, Norway

References

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