"I Want to Play and Sing My Story": Home-Based Songwriting for Bereaved Children and Adolescents (Report‪)‬

Abstract The therapist's role in bereavement support is to encourage clients to "tell their story". This process, considered to facilitate loss processing and acceptance, assists the individual to move on with his or her life. Studies reveal that bereaved children and teenagers require familiar, enjoyable, and age-relevant supports. This paper describes a home-based music therapy program for bereaved children and adolescents. Literature, concerning bereavement, creative arts therapy, and music therapy, is included to highlight the interventions and needs of grieving youngsters. This paper also describes four styles of songwriting together with case vignettes to demonstrate the efficacy of songwriting for this population. In this context, songwriting has enabled bereaved children and teenagers to explore and express grief by singing their stories.