Thesis
"Music therapy? We don't need therapy": community-based music therapy program at the Korean immigrant older adult daycare center : clinical narrative reflection
Master of Arts (M.A.), Drexel University
Jun 2025
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.17918/jebw-nn44
Abstract
Music therapy is offered in various settings, including medical, early intervention, special education, psychiatric, and community contexts. Despite its widespread application, research on the use of music therapy in community settings, particularly among first-generation immigrants such as Koreans in the United States, remains limited. Although Philadelphia has a growing South Korean population, microaggressions and discrimination, such as racism and ageism, continue to affect marginalized individuals in society. First-generation Korean immigrants face numerous challenges, including difficulties with acculturation, loneliness, language barriers, and the stigma surrounding mental health in the United States. This clinical-narrative reflection documents an eighteen-month, twice-weekly community music therapy program implemented at Penn Asian Senior Services (PASSi), a daycare center for Korean older adults in Philadelphia. Grounded in the PREPARE (Participatory, Resource-oriented, Ecological, Performative, Activist, Reflective, Ethics-driven) model of Community Music Therapy, the program is divided into three phases: initial, development, and final. It utilized recreative (song recreation) and improvisational methods to engage with familiar Korean trot and pop repertoires from the United States, highlighting the journey of music therapy group members as they explored the discomfort of learning about the importance of mental well-being and the power of music.
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Details
- Title
- "Music therapy? We don't need therapy"
- Creators
- Jae Ung Park
- Contributors
- Clarissa Jean Lacson (Advisor) - Drexel University, Creative Arts Therapies
- Awarding Institution
- Drexel University
- Degree Awarded
- Master of Arts (M.A.)
- Publisher
- Drexel University; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
- Number of pages
- v, 38 pages
- Resource Type
- Thesis
- Language
- English
- Academic Unit
- Creative Arts Therapies; College of Nursing and Health Professions; Drexel University
- Other Identifier
- 991014632328504721