Library & Learning Commons: Resiliency: Therapeutic Approaches: Music Therapy

What is Music Therapy?

Music therapy is the interaction between a therapist, a client(s), and the use of music (Music Therapy Association of BC, 2024). According to the American Music Therapy Association (2024), "Music therapists assess emotional well-being, physical health, social functioning, communication abilities, and cognitive skills through musical responses; design music sessions for individuals and groups based on client needs using music improvisation, receptive music listening, song writing, lyric discussion, music and imagery, music performance, and learning through music; participate in interdisciplinary treatment planning, ongoing evaluation, and follow up."

Music therapy can be used in a variety of settings and populations. Additionally, healthy individuals can also benefit from music therapy. Healthy individuals can use music for stress reduction via active music making, such as drumming, as well as passive listening for relaxation. Music is often a vital support for physical exercise or can be used for women during labor (AMTA, 2024).

Sources:

American Music Therapy Association. (2024). FAQ's. https://www.musictherapy.org/faq/#267

Music Therapy Association of BC. (2024). How does music therapy work? https://mtabc.com/what-is-music-therapy/how-does-music-therapy-work/

Materials about Music Therapy

Music Therapy : An Introduction with Case Studies for Mental Illness Recovery by Alfredo Zotti and Bob Rich
Call Number: ML3920 .Z688 2020
ISBN: 9781615995325
Publication Date: 2020-11-01
eBook ISBN: 9781615995325
Print ISBN: 9781615995301

Alfredo Zotti, a professional musician and bipolar survivor with a university degree in social anthropology and three years study of psychology, provides an introduction to music theory with specific case studies of applications for Alzheimer's, bipolar disorder, autism spectrum disorder (ASD), schizophrenia, anxiety, depression and other issues. Working primarily as a peer support counselor, his person-centered methods are respectful of client's needs, abilities and responses to music therapy. Strategies explored include both active listening of recorded music as well as instruction in playing musical instruments. Using patience and listening skills, you can -- with Zotti's book -- begin your own journey of music therapy.

ARTICLE: Historical and contemporary perspectives on the development of analytical music therapy training.
Introduction: analytical music therapy (AMT) is an international model of music therapy that is an integral part of advanced training for music therapists. AMT training entails the study of music psychotherapy, techniques and strategies, individual and group supervision, as well as personal AMT therapy, by exploring music therapists' inner life. AMT training prepares aspiring music therapists to meet the challenges of the profession. Music therapists from all over the world have received AMT training and have applied their knowledge in various settings. Moreover, they have an opportunity to examine their worldview, values, personality, musical self, and interactions with clients. Method: To provide a better understanding of the historical perspectives, interviews with experienced educators and significant historical figures and literature review were performed. The significant information was contextualized, and verbatim statements from the interviewees were included. Results: Mary Priestley created AMT, Johannes Eschen and Inge Pedersen integrated the experiential component of AMT training into music therapy programs in Europe, and Benedikte Scheiby was instrumental in developing a postgraduate training program in New York from 1997 to 2018. She was an integral part of the new AMT training initiative at Molloy College, the first university-based AMT training program. Discussion: This paper identifies historical perspectives, its current state, and the benefits and challenges of AMT training. Various viewpoints of AMT training are discussed. This analysis can help music therapists to honor the pioneers' legacy and to contribute to the further development of AMT.
more...less...
Kim, S. A. (2021). Historical and contemporary perspectives on the development of analytical music therapy Training. Nordic Journal of Music Therapy, 30(3), 219–237. https://doi-org.proxy123.nclive.org/10.1080/08098131.2020.1867625
ARTICLE: International Music Therapists' Perceptions and Experiences in Telehealth Music Therapy Provision
The use of telehealth within music therapy practice has increased through necessity in recent years. To contribute to the evolving evidence base, this current study on Telehealth Music Therapy (TMT) was undertaken to investigate the telehealth provision experiences of music therapists internationally. Participants completed an anonymous online cross-sectional survey covering demographics, clinical practice, telehealth provision, and telehealth perceptions. Descriptive and inferential statistics, in combination with thematic analysis, were used to analyze the data. A total of 572 music therapists from 29 countries experienced in providing TMT took part in this study. The results showed that the overall number of clinical hours (TMT and in-person hours combined) declined due to the pandemic. Participants also reported reduced perceived success rates in utilizing both live and pre-recorded music in TMT sessions when compared to in-person sessions. Although many music therapists rose to the challenges posed by the pandemic by incorporating TMT delivery modes, there was no clear agreement on whether TMT has more benefits than drawbacks; however, reported benefits included increased client access and caregiver involvement. Furthermore, a correlation analysis revealed moderate-to-strong positive associations between respondents who perceived TMT to have more benefits than drawbacks, proficiency at administering assessments over telehealth, and perceived likelihood of using telehealth in the future. Regarding the influence of primary theoretical orientation and work setting, respondents who selected music psychotherapy as a primary theoretical orientation had more experience providing TMT prior to the pandemic while those primarily working in private practice were most inclined to continue TMT services post-pandemic. Benefits and drawbacks are discussed and future recommendations for TMT are provided.
more...less...
Clements-Cortés, A., Pranjić, M., Knott, D., Mercadal-Brotons, M., Fuller, A., Kelly, L., . . . Vaudreuil, R. (2023). International music therapists’ perceptions and experiences in telehealth music therapy provision. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 20(8), 5580. doi:https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph20085580
ARTICLE: Music therapy as multiplicity: Implications for music therapy philosophy and theory
The field of music therapy is diverse and complex. Authors have navigated such complexity in myriad ways, often to locate the field's unique values and purposes. Ensuing orientations and models have been valuable, but do not encompass the entirety of current and future practices/practitioners. I introduce the multiplicity concept to highlight intricacies and promote opportunities. I re-envision Bruscia's construction of music therapy as a multiplicity – an interactive relationship between art, science, and humanity – through the rigor of Gilles Deleuze's multiplicity concept: (a) difference between and within, (b) the extensive and intensive, and (c) the actual and virtual through a range of examples and illustrations. I also note how the multiplicity of music engages with context (client, therapist, and environment), seeking to illustrate the potential for multiplicity to address our uniqueness in a more nuanced and dynamic fashion than is commonly presented. In order to show resonance and variation, I dialogue with historical and current concepts and perspectives employed in music therapy. A resultant conceptual edifice includes: processes that are multiple, outcomes that multiply, and options that allow one to decenter and pivot as needed in context. The unique dynamism of multiplicity allows us to engage in between the components of creativity, organization, and human relationship in new ways. The ideas I present here are not entirely new, but have rarely if ever been highlighted in this fashion. This re-envisioning of Bruscia's multiplicity offers a unique, dynamic metatheoretical frame for the field to (re)consider current perspectives.
more...less...
Matney, W. (2021). Music therapy as multiplicity: Implications for music therapy philosophy and theory. Nordic Journal of Music Therapy, 30(1), 3–23. https://doi-org.proxy123.nclive.org/10.1080/08098131.2020.1811371
VIDEO: The Healing Power of Music
An unconventional approach to recovery and coping, music therapy is a field of medicine capturing new attention due to its role in helping Gabrielle Giffords recover from a gunshot to the head. Correspondent Spencer Michels reports on the versatility of music in a medical setting as well as the difficulty of quantifying its effectiveness.
more...less...
The healing power of music (2/27/12) (2012). NewsHour Productions.

Music Therapy Assessment by Eric G. Waldon (Editor); Stine Lindahl Jacobsen (Editor); Gustavo Schulz Gattino (Editor); Barbara L. Wheeler (Foreword by)
Call Number: ML3920 .M875 2019
ISBN: 9781784506025
Publication Date: 2018-09-21
eISBN: 9781784506025
Print ISBN:9781785922954

As the use of music therapy becomes more widespread so too does the need for detailed assessment. Standardised assessment tools, and knowledge of how to integrate assessment into clinical practice, are needed for teaching, research and clinical purposes all around the world. Based on the findings of members of the International Music Therapy Assessment Consortium (IMTAC), this comprehensive anthology collects the latest research and clinical practice methods about music therapy assessment. Looking at the available assessment tools holistically, the book covers the major assessment models currently used in clinical practice, and details each model's setting and motivation, development, theoretical background, and how to implement it in a clinical setting.
Music Therapy and Autism Across the Lifespan by Henry Dunn (Editor); Helen Mottram (Editor); Elizabeth Coombes (Editor); Emma Maclean (Editor); Josie Nugent (Editor); Adam Ockelford (Foreword by)
Call Number: ML3920 .M875 2019
ISBN: 9781784506223
Publication Date: 2019-06-21
eISBN: 9781784506223
Print ISBN: 9781785923111

The use of music therapy is long established with people with Autistic Spectrum Conditions. The combination of using music and relationship work in person-centred approaches supports the three main areas of difficulty people with autism often experience; social interaction, communication and imagination. Current research supports the positive psychological benefits of music therapy when people with autism spectrum conditions engage with music therapy. This book celebrates the richness of music therapy approaches and brings together the voices of practitioners in the UK. With a strong focus on practice-based evidence it showcases clinicians, researchers and educators working in a variety of settings across the lifespan.

American Music Therapy Association
The American Music Therapy Association® is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization whose mission is to advance public awareness of the benefits of music therapy and increase access to quality music therapy services in a rapidly changing world.

Virtual Music Therapy: Developing New Approaches to Service Delivery
As the global Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic transforms our society, music therapists must adapt service delivery models that ensure client safety. Given the prevalence of COVID-19 in our communities and lack of personal protective equipment in many settings, music therapists are faced with the need to shift delivery models in order to provide safe and relevant services. Telehealth is one solution to these current service delivery challenges.

Music therapists possess a depth of practice-based knowledge and understanding of client populations, which enables them to develop virtual services, matching both the clinicians’ and clients’ technical capabilities. Developed during the initial wave of COVID-19 infections in the United States, this article describes the coauthors’ three tiered scaffold model intended to support the program development and deployment of virtual music therapy (VMT) services. The model describes an approach to developing VMT services that directs the clinician’s goals of care in formats that are accessible, appropriate, and best meet the patient/client’s needs and abilities. The severity and lasting nature of this worldwide health crisis and its disruption of traditional service delivery models require clinicians and researchers to develop the most effective uses of VMT while considering its limits with regard to clinical populations and need areas.

Knott, D., & Block, S. (2020). Virtual music therapy: Developing new approaches to service delivery. Music Therapy Perspectives. https://doi.org/10.1093/mtp/miaa017
The Limits of Resilience and the Need for Resistance: Articulating the Role of Music Therapy With Young People Within a Shifting Trauma Paradigm
A broad sociocultural perspective defines trauma as the result of an event, a series of events, or a set of circumstances that is experienced as physically or emotionally harmful or life threatening, with lasting impacts on an individual’s physical, social, emotional, or spiritual wellbeing. Contexts and practices that aim to be “trauma-informed” strive to attend to the complex impacts of trauma, integrating knowledge into policies and practices, and providing a sanctuary from harm. However, there is a body of critical and decolonial scholarship that challenges the ways in which “trauma-informed” practice prioritizes individualized interventions, reinscribes colonial power relations through its conceptualizations of safety, and obscures the role of systemic injustices. Within music therapy trauma scholarship, research has thus far pointed to the affordances of music in ameliorating symptoms of trauma, bypassing unavailable cognitive processes, and working from a strengths-based orientation. In critiquing the tendency of the dominant trauma paradigm to assign vulnerability and reinforce the individual’s responsibility to develop resilience through adversity, this conceptual analysis outlines potential alternatives within music therapy. Drawing on a case example from a research project with young people in school, I elucidate the ways in which music therapy can respond to power relations as they occur within and beyond “trauma-informed” spaces. I highlight two overarching potentials for music therapy within a shifting trauma paradigm: (1) as a site in which to reframe perceived risk by fostering young people’s resistance and building their political agency and (2) in challenging the assumption of “safe spaces” and instead moving toward practices of “structuring safety.”

Scine, E. (2021). The kimits of resilience and the need for resistance: Articulating the role of music therapy with young people within a shifting trauma paradigm. Frontiers in Psychology, 12. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.600245

Music Therapy and Mental Health | Lucia Clohessy | TEDxWCMephamHigh by TEDx Talks

We listen to music to get pumped up about something, to find personal peace, to sympathize and allow our emotions an outlet. It makes sense that music therapy would help us to heal and thrive in the most difficult times of our lives. Lucia focuses on how music today and throughout history helps mental wellness. Lucia Clohessy is a professional singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and published poet from New York City, but true harmony occurs when Lucia is using her music to help others. A graduate of the Music Therapy and Psychology program at Berklee College of Music in Boston, Lucia hopes to one day open her own mental health and substance abuse treatment facility that incorporates alternative therapies in the process of healing. Lucia is presently pursuing her certification as a Credentialed Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Counselor, and currently serves as a music therapy intern with the Louis Armstrong Center for Music and Medicine at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York. Additionally, Lucia is the co-founder of The Nicky Clohessy #18 Foundation, a non-profit organization that brings awareness to the prescription drug epidemic. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community.

TEDx Talks. (2018, June 14). Music therapy and mental health | lucia clohessy | tedxwcmephamhigh [Video]. YouTube. https://youtu.be/-io-uld2JFU?si=Brxh5JO1VDZOQ0fl

Trauma and Music Therapy: Let the Healing Begin | Karla Hawley | TEDxSnoIsleLibraries by TEDx Talks

In this TEDx talk, Karla Hawley shares how a nostalgic piece of music helped her address and overcome the pain of childhood abuse. Her work as certified music therapist with the Snohomish County Music Project gives her a unique perspective on the role of music to help individuals, families and groups suffering from trauma find peace.

TEDx Talks. (2017, January 4). Trauma and music therapy: Let the healing begin | karla hawley | tedx snoIslelibraries [Video]. YouTube. https://youtu.be/IWQnTUunhuY?si=AKiY8lGm-PePmm08