Music Therapy for Psychological Trauma: Emotion Regulation, Social Connection, and Recovery

Article Overview

This 2025 theoretical integrative review explores how music therapy may support people recovering from psychological trauma, including post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The authors describe music therapy as a clinical, evidence-based practice that has been used across mental health settings to support emotion processing, affect regulation, and functioning, while also reviewing the growing trauma-focused literature in the field.

The review identified 19 empirical studies published since 2017 and found important advances in trauma-focused music therapy research, including increased use of randomized controlled trials, physiological measures, more detailed intervention descriptions, and the emergence of manualized treatments. The paper highlights recurring themes such as emotion regulation, social affiliation, nonverbal expression, agency, and therapeutic safety as possible mechanisms through which music therapy may help trauma survivors.

Why This Matters

This article matters because it helps explain not only that music therapy may support trauma recovery, but also how it may work. The review discusses music therapy as a potentially useful trauma-informed approach because it can support emotional regulation, embodied processing, nonverbal expression, and social connection, all of which are especially relevant for people living with trauma-related distress.

For a public-facing music therapy library, this is a valuable article because it shows that the field is growing in both theory and evidence. It also positions music therapy as a promising complement to mainstream mental health care, while honestly acknowledging that the field still needs more comparative studies, streamlined interventions, and stronger replication.

Williams, J., & Sidis, A. E. (2025). Music therapy for psychological trauma: A theoretical integrative review. The Arts in Psychotherapy, 96, 102369. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aip.2025.102369

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Landscape, Albert Pinkham Ryder, 1897–98 (?)

Music Therapy Choir for Dementia: Anxiety, Depression, and Connection in Community Care

Article Overview

This randomized controlled trial examined whether participation in a therapeutic choir could support people living with dementia and their primary caregivers in community settings. The Remini-Sing intervention was designed to explore outcomes related to relationship quality, quality of life, depression, social connectedness, caregiver burden, and anxiety in dementia-caregiver dyads.

Choir sessions included vocal warm-ups, familiar songs chosen by participants, simple part singing, and social time over refreshments. Although the study was underpowered because recruitment and retention fell short of the original target, the choir group showed encouraging reductions in depression and anxiety for people with dementia, with medium to large effect sizes that suggest therapeutic choir participation may be promising for future research.

Why This Matters

Dementia affects not only memory and cognition, but also mood, social connection, and the wellbeing of family caregivers. This article matters because it studies a community-based music therapy approach that is accessible, relational, and enjoyable for both people with dementia and those who care for them. It also highlights how shared music experiences may support meaningful interaction and emotional wellbeing outside of institutional care settings.

Just as importantly, the article is transparent about its limitations. The trial did not find statistically significant effects, largely because the final sample was much smaller than planned, but it still offers a useful and honest picture of what therapeutic choir participation may be able to support. For readers, families, and clinicians, it shows that music therapy research in dementia care is moving toward real-world, community-based interventions that prioritize connection as well as clinical outcomes.

Tamplin, J., Thompson, Z., Clark, I. N., Teggelove, K., & Baker, F. A. (2024). Remini-Sing RCT: Therapeutic choir participation for community-dwelling people with dementia and their primary caregivers. Journal of Music Therapy, 61(3), 263–287. https://doi.org/10.1093/jmt/thae008

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