Songwriting in music therapy: a rapid review

Abstract

Songwriting in music therapy is the process of creating, notating, and/or recording lyrics and music by the client or clients and therapist within a therapeutic relationship to address psychosocial, emotional, cognitive, and communication needs of the client. Over time, this method has developed to address new goals and new clinical populations. The purpose of this review is to update the comprehensive review of songwriting methods in music conducted by Baker et al. (2008). Articles reviewed met the following inclusion criteria: 1) published in a peer review journal between 2008 and 2020, and 2) examined the effect of a songwriting method used to with a clinical population using quantitative research methods., The results of this review identified a song writing method, 2 clinical populations, and goals that were not reported on in the 2008 Baker et al. study. This study supports the conclusion that songwriting has evolved over time and will continue to do so to support an array of goals and clinical populations.