Music Therapy with Neonatal Intensive Care Unit-Discharged Mother-Infant Dyads: Developing a Method for Nurturing Communicative Parental Efficacy (CoPE with Music)

This article describes a music therapy method called CoPE (Communicative Parental Efficacy) designed for mothers and infants recently discharged from neonatal intensive care units. The method uses eight weekly sessions where a music therapist works with the mother-infant pair to help mothers feel more confident in communicating with their baby through music. The approach combines emotional support for the mother, modeling of musical interactions, and practice to build parental confidence. The article presents the concept and includes a case study example.

Key points

• NICU-discharged mothers often feel alone and lack guidance after returning home, potentially losing parental confidence
• CoPE uses eight weekly sessions with improvised musical interactions between therapist, mother, and infant
• The method focuses on three components: containing maternal emotions, modeling musical interactions, and enabling the mother to practice with her baby
• Music therapy-based methods for post-discharge NICU families are currently limited in the literature
• The approach aims to build communicative parental efficacy through supported musical engagement

Limitations

This article presents a method description with only a short case study example, rather than a systematic evaluation of effectiveness. It does not provide quantitative data on outcomes, comparison with control groups, or evidence of impact on mother or infant well-being.