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Journal of Creativity in Mental Health, 5:25–38, 2010
Copyright © Taylor & Francis Group, LLC
ISSN: 1540-1383 print/1540-1391 online
DOI: 10.1080/15401381003626857
WCMH 1540-1383 1540-1391 Journal of Creativity in Mental Health, Vol. 5, No. 1, February 2010: pp. 0–0 Journal of Creativity in Mental Health
For Those About to Rock (With Your High
School Students), We Salute You: School
Counselors Using Music Interventions
School Counselors Using Music Interventions T. M. Kimbel and J. J. Protivnak
TYLER M. KIMBEL
University of Northern Colorado, Evans, Colorado, USA
JAKE J. PROTIVNAK
Youngstown State University, Youngstown, Ohio, USA
Music has a significant impact on the daily lives of adolescents.
This article provides music interventions that school counselors
can use with adolescents: music listening/sharing, lyric revision,
improvisation, and use in classroom guidance lessons. Also provided
are the benefits, limitations, and ethical considerations for using
music interventions while considering issues of imposing or validating
values, confidentiality, and duty to warn with students. A case
illustration demonstrating the integration of music interventions
into a school counseling session with a student experiencing
academic and behavioral problems is provided. Recommendations
for school counseling practice are presented.
KEYWORDS creativity, music interventions, school counseling,
ethics, adolescents
Music is central in many students’ lives and serves as a vehicle for
self-expression, emotional release, and peer relationships (Campbell, Connell,
& Beegle, 2007). Adolescents are influenced by popular music and seek to
incorporate it into their daily lives (Committee on Communications, 2009;
Hendricks, Robinson, Bradley, & Davis, 1999). Approximately 90% of students
listen to music on a daily basis (Kiefer, 2004), 37% play a musical instrument
(Lyons, 2003), and approximately 20% of students participate in a school
band (National Center for Education Statistics, 2007). One of the top-selling
Address correspondence to Tyler M. Kimbel, 1114 Gard Place Apt. D, Loveland, CO
80537, USA. E-mail: kimb5947@bears.unco.edu