The Power of Participation: Making Music Therapy More Meaningful for Families
Dr. Deanna Hanson-Abromeit brings over 30 years of experience to this engaging podcast on parent involvement in early childhood music therapy. She emphasizes the importance of family-centered practices, coaching parents, and adapting interventions to each family’s unique needs and context. Dr. Hanson-Abromeit discusses strategies for fostering meaningful parent-child interactions, navigating cultural influences, and effectively recruiting participants for research and clinical settings. Her advice for parents? Embrace music therapy as a joyful, preventative, and supportive tool that nurtures your child’s natural musicality, strengthens family bonds, and positively impacts developmental outcomes.
Resources
Bornstein, M. H. & Arterberry, M. E. (2023). Infancy: The Basics. Routledge.
Hanson-Abromeit, D. (2022). Stress response reduction through music-based sensory experiences. [Featured article]. imagine e-journal: Music Therapy in Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health. De La Vista Publishers. https://www.imagine.musictherapy.biz/product/imagine-2022/
Smith, A. R., Salley, B., Hanson-Abromeit, D., Paluch, R. A., Engel, H., Piazza, J., & Kong, K. L. (2023). The impact of a community-based music program on home language environment during early childhood. Child Development, 95(2), 481–496. https://doi.org/10.1111/cdev.14005
Sena Moore, K. & Hanson-Abromeit, D. (2023). Feasibility of the Musical Contour Regulation Facilitation (MCRF) intervention to promote emotion regulation for under-resourced preschoolers: Examining intervention intensity. The Arts in Psychotherapy, 82, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aip.2022.101984
About The Interviewee
Deanna Hanson-Abromeit, PhD, MT-BC Professor at the University of Kansas directs the Baby Music Intervention Research Lab. Her research focuses on music intervention development, evaluation and implementation primarily with infants and families. For 30 years she has worked in early childhood in community and hospital-based settings. Contact: dhansonabromeit@ku.edu
Suggested Citation
Kern, P. (2025, May 1). The power of participation: Making music therapy more meaningful for families. [Audio podcast]. imagine. www.imagine.musictherapy.biz