Orff music therapy

Domain VIII · Creative & expressive arts therapies · Gertrud Orff · 1970 · Munich, Germany

What it is

A developmental, humanistic, multisensory music therapy for children with developmental delays, disabilities and sensory impairments, and now also for their parents, for infants with self-regulation problems, and for young people and adults with developmental disabilities. Hellbrügge invited…

Format

• The sources describe no fixed numbered phases or manualised session plan; Voigt states the child is not "pressed into a specific therapy 'programme'". The course below is assembled from the described clinical pathway; the labels are mine.
• Goal: a developmental profile from the paediatrician and developmental psychologist, from which the indication for music therapy and the individual goals are set.

Who practises it, and how they are trained or regulated

• What it is. A developmental, humanistic, multisensory music therapy for children with developmental delays, disabilities and sensory impairments, and now also for their parents, for infants with self-regulation problems, and for young people and adults with developmental disabilities. Hellbrügge invited Gertrud Orff (a co-developer of Carl Orff's Orff-Schulwerk) to Munich in 1969; she worked at the Kinderzentrum…
• Professional frame. Orff Music Therapy is a specialist music therapy approach, not a technique for general psychotherapists. In Germany the training is a three-year part-time further-education course (running since 1986, started as seminars in 1980) at the Deutsche Akademie für Entwicklungsförderung und Gesundheit des Kindes und Jugendlichen e.V., Munich (earlier the Deutsche Akademie für…

Questions to explore with your client

• What drew you to it, and what are you hoping it will change?
• Is there physical contact? Was it explained beforehand, and do you feel free to say no or stop at any point?
• Does it involve fasting, a special diet or 'detox'? Have you discussed this with your doctor?
• Is it a group, retreat or community? How do they respond if someone wants to leave or raises a concern?
• Does it use a device, heat, cold, water or a physical procedure? Has a medical professional checked that it is safe for you?
• Who runs it, and what training or registration do they hold?
• What actually happens in a session or meeting, and how often?
• What does it cost, and is there pressure to commit to more?
• How do you feel afterwards, in the hours and days that follow?
• Does it fit with, or clash with, the work we do here?

What practitioners of it watch for

• video needs written parental consent and secure storage.
• infantilising material; respect adult autonomy and consent capacity.
• startle, crying or tensing (see hearing and seizure safety in section 5).
• the child acting on the word without the visual model is a sign of comprehension.
• pressure to perform can undermine the play stance; keep the developmental goal primary.

When to involve someone else

• New or worsening physical symptoms, or advice to stop or change prescribed medication: involve the client's doctor or prescriber.
• Signs of coercion, isolation from family and friends, escalating costs or secrecy: discuss openly and consider safeguarding.
• A crisis or thoughts of suicide: follow your crisis protocol. In the US, call or text 988; in the UK and Ireland, Samaritans on 116 123.

Drawn automatically from the guide's own sections. Stay curious: neither endorse nor dismiss what the client values, and check anything that matters against the full guide and its sources. Not medical advice.