This week, I wanted to refer to research examining music therapy in children with ADHD. I discovered a 2021 article by two Indonesian educators, which evaluated a variety of characteristics and feelings in children with ADHD. Although I would recommend a cautious approach to some of the language in the article, (which is largely not strengths-based, likely due to the nature of research), they discovered that through music therapy, children with ADHD were able to improve their confidence and self esteem, which in turn improved their social relationships and academic achievement – suddenly they had a means of communication with their peers, their emotions had been validated, and that gave them the confidence to increase application to academic work. The article stated that these elements of wellbeing had previously been diminished by their ADHD.

This supports my philosophy of a circle of wellbeing: by developing one element through music, a link is created that sets off a chain of other wonderful developments.

At Sound Effect Music Therapy, we use a strengths-based approach because we know success breeds success. This article supports the use of music therapy for children with ADHD (and stay tuned for many more articles that address other areas of benefit for this population through music, too).

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