Music Therapy for Grieving Youth: Trauma, Bereavement, and Healing

Article Overview

This article explores how trauma and grief can overlap in the lives of children and adolescents after the death of a loved one, and how music therapy can support young people through bereavement in thoughtful, culturally responsive ways. Rather than treating grief and trauma as separate experiences, the paper shows how they often intersect and shape emotional expression, coping, identity, relationships, and healing.

The author presents theoretical models and clinical reflections that encourage music therapists to use culturally grounded, resource-oriented, and multisystemic approaches when supporting bereaved youth. The article also highlights the importance of considering interpersonal trauma, systemic oppression, collective trauma, and intergenerational trauma when designing meaningful music therapy support.

Why This Matters

Young people experiencing loss may also be carrying trauma histories, family stress, social inequities, or disrupted support systems. This article matters because it moves beyond a one-size-fits-all understanding of grief and encourages more inclusive, trauma-informed, and socially aware music therapy practice.

For readers, clinicians, and families, the article offers a deeper understanding of why bereavement support should be sensitive to culture, context, and lived experience. It also reinforces that music therapists across settings should be prepared to support youth navigating trauma and loss, and that this knowledge should be part of professional training.

Myers-Coffman, K. (2024). Intersections of trauma and grief: Navigating multilayered terrain in music therapy to support youth through bereavement. The Arts in Psychotherapy, 89, 102166. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aip.2024.102166

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