Handbook of Music, Adolescents, and Wellbeing
ISBN: 9780191846694
Platform/Publisher: Oxford Academic / Oxford University Press
Digital rights: Users: Unlimited; Printing: Unlimited; Download: Unlimited
Subjects: Music Psychology Developmental Psychology;

Many young people rely on music to guide them through the good and bad times of their lives. Whether immersing themselves in music to process emotions or creating music as a means of self-expression, it provides a powerful outlet that can help young people navigate the turbulence of adolescence.

Centred around the three key areas of emotion, identity, and connectedness, the Handbook of Music, Adolescents, and Wellbeing provides insights into the relationship between music and young people, exploring questions such as: why do teenagers have such a passionate relationship with music? Why this is even more apparent and important during times of difficulty? How can music be utilised to enhance wellbeing?

With 26 authors from around the globe, this book canvasses a wide range of perspectives, from the most scientific to the most practical. Each chapter contains insightful stories from the authors' own experiences working with young people, and brings together the latest theory, research, and practice from the fields of music therapy, music psychology, music education, and music sociology to explore and understand how and why music plays such a big part in young lives.

The first section addresses the popular topic of music and emotions, clarifying the ways that young people can learn to use music intentionally to achieve healthy outcomes. The second section looks at identity construction, emphasising agency in the ways that young people choose to express themselves both personally and to others. The third section explores connectedness, with a particular emphasis on uses of technology to connect with others.

This book will be of interest to music therapists, youth and social workers, psychologists, counsellors, occupational therapists, teachers, parents, and anyone interested in promoting adolescent wellbeing through music.


Professor Katrina McFerran is a music therapy scholar specialising in music and young people. She is Director of the National Creative Arts and Music Therapy Research Unit at the University of Melbourne in Australia, and Chair of the World Federation of Music Therapy's Research and Ethics Commission. Her research is diverse and includes collaborative and participatory approaches that seek to understand how young people can draw upon their relationships with music to feel better. She is creator of the Massive Open Online Course 'How Music Can Change Your Life' through Coursera and has created a TEDx Talk on Coming Back from the Dark Side with Music. She has also published more than 90 journal articles, 4 books and 24 book chapters and is regularly invited to speak at conferences, symposia and universities around the world.

Dr Philippa Derrington has led the MSc Music Therapy programme at Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh in Scotland, UK since 2013. She has practiced as a music therapist for many years with adults, children and adolescents, and in a variety of health and education settings. She is a passionate advocate for the development and promotion of music therapy especially within mainstream schools and this continues to be her main area for research. She has published her work and presented at many conferences nationally and internationally. She also works as a clinical and research supervisor and is an editor of British Journal of Music Therapy.

Dr Suvi Saarikallio specializes in music as part of adolescents' psychological development and wellbeing in everyday life. She has PhD in Music Education (2007) and Title of Docent in Psychology (2014). She conducts multidisciplinary research from music cognition to music therapy, using methods from qualitative theory development to motion capture, neural measures, and psychometrics. She has published over 50 peer-reviewed papers in journals and conference proceedings and her recent research projects have involved topics like Music-related emotional competence and adolescent mental health, (Academy of Finland 2010-2016) and Affect from Art (Kone Foundation, 2015-2017). Saarikallio currently works as a senior researcher and Vice-Head of Department (Head of Research) at the Department of Music, Art and Culture Studies and Finnish Center for Interdisciplinary Music Research, University of Jyvaskyla, Finland.

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