Music Therapy and Adoption: Co-creating Therapy Centered on Adoptee Lived Experience

Operating at the leading edge of music therapy, Music Therapy and Adoption provides an in-depth examination of one single case study, then compares this to a wider range of examples of the author’s practice to identify four repeated ‘adoption themes’ that arise in therapeutic work. Chapters guide readers through the rationale behind an adoption specific music therapy and the psychoanalytic approach taken by the author. The book then approaches each of the adoption themes (feeling dropped and dropping things, lullabies and their meaning, the dynamics of hide and seek and the baby with the broken head), demonstrating how readers may identify similar themes and then appropriately develop music therapy practice for positive experiences within their own clinical work. Grounded in a needs-led collaboration within the adoption community, the author also navigates her dual position as a therapist with lived experience of adoption, and how this relates to her therapeutic practice and clinical research. As a non-verbal modality, music therapy is particularly well-placed as a creative intervention for work with adoptees and their families. Accessibly written and informed by lived experience, this is an essential read for music therapists, other mental health professionals, and, most importantly, adoptees themselves.