Is restlessness best understood as a process? Reflecting on four boys’ restlessness during music therapy in kindergarten

Abstract

ADHD can be considered an internationally recognized framework for understanding children’s restlessness. In this context, children’s restlessness is understood as a symptom of neurodevelopmental disorder. However, there are other possible understandings of children’s restlessness. In this article, we explore four boys’ collaborative and creative process as it is described and understood by three adults. The process is framed by a community music therapy project in a Norwegian kindergarten, and we describe four interrelated phases of this process: Exploring musical vitality and cooperation, Consolidating positions, Performing together, and Discovering ripple effects. We discuss these results in relation to seven qualities central to a community music therapy approach: participation, resource orientation, ecology, performance, activism, reflexivity and ethics. We argue that in contrast to a diagnostic approach that entails a focus on individual problems, a community music therapy approach can shed light on adult and systemic contributions to children’s restlessness.

Theoretical Perspectives and Therapeutic Approaches in Music Therapy with Families

“…There may also be differences in how respondents understood who the "client" is when working with families. For example, an ecological framework typically assumes the family is the client (Bruscia, 1998, p. 299) and therefore the therapist may take a broader environmental and contextual perspective (Brofenbrenner, 1979(Brofenbrenner, ,, 1981Crooke, 2015;Helle-Valle et al, 2017;Rolvsjord & Stige, 2015). In this survey, 27.2% of respondents reported being influenced by systemic and ecological orientations to practice, which was lower than expected.…”

“…Music therapy is, broadly speaking, a relational and contextual practice (Helle-Valle et al, 2017;Rolvsjord & Stige, 2015). Family centered practice in music therapy has been described as an ecological approach where the primary focus is on promoting health within and between family members (Bruscia, 1998).…”

Polyphonic perspectives: a focus group study of interprofessional staff’s perceptions of music therapy at an inpatient unit for children in mental health care

“…There has been a large amount of research on music therapy for children with autism spectrum disorder, as the recently published Cochrane review shows (Geretsegger et al, 2022 ). Other topics of research in this field are music therapy for children with anxiety (Goldbeck & Ellerkamp, 2012 ), for children and youth with social challenges (Gooding, 2010 ), for children in relation to ADHD and restlessness (Helle-Valle et al, 2015 , 2017 ; Jackson, 2003 ), music therapy as part of the assessment process (Jacobsen, 2012 ; Layman et al, 2002 ; Loewy, 2000 ), self-esteem and music therapy (Kirkerud, 2016 ), music therapy and traumatic loss (Hakomäki, 2012 ), active versus passive music therapy (Montello & Coons, 1998 ), as well as emotional regulation and interactions in music (Johns, 2018 ; Sannes, 2012 ; Uhlig et al, 2016 ).…”

A biased ADHD discourse ignores human uniqueness

“…Music therapy is one of those therapeutic forms that can be beneficial for children who are hyperactive and have difficulty controlling their emotions. Helle-Valle, Binder, Anderssen, and Stige (2017) have contributed a study concerning music therapy in a Norwegian kindergarten and illustrate how restlessness and hyperactive behaviors might be understood as part of a process rather than as inherent and stable characteristics. They show how children who were described as restless and prone to “fooling around”, during the music therapy project were perceived as cooperative, focused, and creative, thus showing that the current idea of stable individual characteristics needs to be challenged.…”