Family-Hub at the 13th European Music Therapy Conference on 23th-27th July 2025 in Hamburg, Germany

 

Following our wonderful tradition of meeting at the EMTC conferences, we are very much looking forward to this opportunity to network again!


Pre-Conference

“MUSIC as a bridge in family-centered music therapy”

22th July 2025, 10 am - 6 pm

Venue: MSH Medical School Hamburg, Am Kaiserkai 1

Organising group: Thomas Stegemann, Tali Gottfried & Kirsi Tuomi

 

There will be more detailed information to come, but we wanted to let you know about this so that you can take it into account if you are planning to attend the conference. Below you will find the abstract of the pre-conference.

We would be very happy to see many of you there in person!

 

MUSIC as a bridge in family-centered music therapy

(Thomas Stegemann, Tali Gottfried, Kirsi Tuomi)

Pre-Conference Abstract:
Research over the past 30 years has shown positive outcomes for music therapy with families in various populations and settings, and many music therapists around the world incorporate family members as part of the therapeutic process when working with children, adolescents, and adults (Tuomi et al., 2021).

The "Music Therapy with Families Hub" is a collective of certified music therapists which has emerged from the Symposium "Music Therapy with Families 2022" in Vienna, Austria. Its aim is to expand networking on an international level to be able to learn from each other in the best possible way. This proposed pre-conference is offered by leading members of this Hub.

The aims of the pre-conference are to give opportunity and space to expand the knowledge regarding relevant theoretical frameworks, practice, and recent research in working with families in music therapy as well as to explore specific methods and techniques. On this whole day seminar (Tuesday), we will zoom-in on investigating the following questions:

WHEN do we use music - and when not?
HOW do we use music – and with whom?
WHAT kind of music do we use?
And - TO WHAT EXTENT can music create bridgesbetween the participants in family-centered music therapy?

The pre-conference will include presentations, working in small groups, sharing, making music together – with the aim of bridging the gap between theory and clinical work. The pre-conference is open for anyone who is interested in this field.

Reference: Tuomi, K., Thompson, G., Gottfried, T., &Ala-Ruona, E. (2021). Theoretical Perspectives and Therapeutic Approaches inMusic Therapy with Families: An International Survey Study. Voices: A WorldForum for Music Therapy, 21(2). https://doi.org/10.15845/voices.v21i2.2952