It is becoming increasingly common that music therapists work with clients who are from other countries and cultural backgrounds. Music can play an important role in the culture of every client, so when preparing client-preferred music it’s important to be intentional about honoring different styles, genres, and languages of music that are client preferred in order to connect with your client and be most effective in therapy. This can be daunting at times, since you may not be able to speak the language, you don’t share the same background, or perhaps western instruments are not even capable of producing the same sounds and notes. This is where we have to get creative!

With the advent of instant and unlimited music streaming and headphones, it may be hard to keep tabs on what music kids and adolescents are consuming for almost 15 hours a week. A question that many parents ask, and some may not know to ask is- how does explicit content in music affect my child? And for music therapist’s out there, when utilizing songs with explicit content, or entering into lyric based discussions- it’s important to know how your client’s preferred music may be influencing their behaviors and attitudes in your session and in day to day life.