Can music therapy engage patients in group cognitive behaviour therapy for substance abuse treatment? GENEVIEVE A. DINGLE 1 , LIBBY GLEADHILL 2 , & FELICITY A. BAKER 2 1 School of Psychology, University of Queensland and Rubicon Drug and Alcohol Program, QLD, Australia, and 2 School of Music, University of Queensland, Australia Abstract Introduction and Aims. Despite the availability of effective treatments for substance use disorders, engaging people in treatment remains a challenge. This clinical study describes a 7-week trial of music therapy as an adjunct to group cognitive behaviour therapy with the aim of increasing patient engagement in a private hospital open group programme. Design and Methods. Patient attendance rates and perceptions of the music therapy were collected at the end of each music therapy session by means of an anonymous survey, and only data from each patient’s first survey were used in the analysis. Twenty-four surveys were analysed, representing feedback from 10 men and 14 women, aged between 17 and 52 years. Results. The average attendance rate over the 7-week trial was 75%. The results indicated that enjoyment and motivation to participate during the sessions was uniformly high (mean ratings of 4.3 and 4.0 out of 5, respectively). The majority (83%) of participants reported that they would attend another music therapy session, and almost half (46%) endorsed that ‘(music therapy) would help them to feel more a part of the group’. Additional analyses revealed that music therapy was able to engage patients regardless of their age group (25 years and under vs. over-25 years) or substance (alcohol only vs. other drugs). Discussion and Conclusions. Music therapy is a promising approach to improving engagement in substance abuse treatment groups. [Dingle GA, Gleadhill L, Baker FA. Can music therapy engage patients in group cognitive behaviour therapy for substance abuse treatment? Drug Alcohol Rev 2008;27:190–196] Key words: engagement, group cognitive behaviour therapy, music therapy, substance abuse treatment. Introduction The misuse of alcohol and other drugs is a major and ongoing problem in Australia. The National Survey of Mental Health and Wellbeing [1] reported that 6.5% of Australian adults had an alcohol use disorder and a further 2.2% had another drug use disorder in the 12 months prior to the survey. There was considerable co- morbidity between substance use disorders and other mental disorders, such as anxiety and mood disorders. The social costs of substance misuse in terms of illness and disease, injury, work-place concerns, vio- lence and crime and family and relationship breakdown were estimated at $34.5 billion dollars for the year 1998 – 9 [2]. Despite these social costs, only a minority of people with substance use disorders seek professional help: 28% of those with an alcohol use disorder and 36% of those with a drug use disorder sought help in the past year [1]. An even smaller number continue with treatment. For example, the Australian Treatment Outcome Study (ATOS) investigated the treatment course for 745 people entering heroin treatment ser- vices across three States and reported that more than 40% have discontinued treatment 1 year later [3]. One review reported that between 52% and 75% of patients in alcohol treatment drop out by the fourth session [4]. A recent study of 419 consecutive clients undergoing assessment at a specialist alcohol clinic in England found that 34% declined any treatment, 25% attended one session and 41% attended more than one session of treatment [5]. The factors associated with starting and with continuing treatment included (older) age and Received 18 January 2007; accepted for publication 31 May 2007. Genevieve A. Dingle PhD, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, School of Psychology, University of Queensland, St Lucia, QLD 4072, Australia and Manager, Rubicon Drug and Alcohol Program, Belmont Private Hospital, Carina, QLD 4152, Australia, Libby Gleadhill MMThy, School of Music, University of Queensland, St Lucia, QLD 4072, Australia, Felicity A. Baker PhD, Lecturer and Coordinator of Music Therapy, School of Music, University of Queensland, St Lucia, QLD 4072, Australia. Correspondence to Genevieve A. Dingle PhD, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, School of Psychology University of Queensland St Lucia QLD 4072, Australia. Tel: þ61 7 3365 6427. E-mail: dingle@psy.uq.edu.au Drug and Alcohol Review (March 2008), 27, 190 – 196 ISSN 0959-5236 print/ISSN 1465-3362 online/08/020190–07 ª Australasian Professional Society on Alcohol and other Drugs DOI: 10.1080/09595230701829371