Music Therapy Commons^™

Therapeutic Use Of Music For Geriatric Dementia Patients, Katelynn Roscioli

Scholar Week 2016 - present

Dementia impacts millions of individuals and their families worldwide, yet many caregivers remain untrained, unpaid, and unable to maintain their own health while caring for their patients. Despite the need for support, limited resources exist to aid these caregivers in combatting this progressive, debilitating disease. One possibility lies in practices rooted in music therapy, which have been shown to restore memory retention, personhood, and quality of life in dementia patients. However, individuals outside of music therapists, especially those with limited musical backgrounds, may not consider implementing music therapy within their care plan. To make this approach more accessible, a website …

Mindfulness Through Biofeedback And Meditation Syllabus, Eric B. Miller

Open Educational Resources

No abstract provided.

Music Performance Anxiety: Should It Be Addressed In Music Curricula And By Whom?, Kaitlynn Kamer

Honors Projects

Music performance anxiety (MPA) impacts musicians of all skill levels, as demonstrated by existing research on both student and professional musicians. Although most musicians experience MPA, it is not formally addressed in music curriculum. This study seeks to evaluate the views and discourse around MPA in the collegiate music community through a survey of 66 college music students, 17 faculty members, and a series of secondary interviews. Through the results of the surveys and interviews, the thoughts on MPA from both the faculty and student perspective will be discussed. Upon reviewing the results of study, possible avenues for addressing MPA …

Factors Influencing Music Therapists’ Retention Of Clinical Hours With Autistic Clients Over Telehealth During The Covid-19 Pandemic, Nicole M. Richard Williams

Music Faculty Scholarship

The COVID-19 pandemic influenced music therapists to migrate services to online platforms, though some lost clinical hours during the pandemic when telehealth was not a viable option. This survey study aimed to ascertain factors that helped music-based therapists to continue serving autistic clients over telehealth during the pandemic. We surveyed 193 accredited music therapists located mainly in Canada and the United States. In addition to gathering data on general perceptions of telehealth music therapy and Neurologic Music Therapy® (NMT), one-way ANOVAs were applied to determine differences in percent-change loss of clinical hours for music therapists: 1) working in different employment …

Harmonious Healing: A Review Of Music Therapy, A Humanities-Based Approach To Alzheimer’S Disease Treatment, Rohan K. Desai

Kentucky Undergraduate Journal for the Health Humanities

Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disease often characterized by memory loss, confusion, and overall cognitive decline. The aging global population has, in recent years, highlighted the fundamental lack of pharmacological treatments for individuals facing an AD diagnosis. In response, a growing body of research has shifted focus to non-pharmacological humanities-based interventions. One such intervention has been music therapy (MT). Music-focused measures have shown great promise as a method of slowing cognitive decline, but mixed results in the literature warrant the need for further investigation. Often, socioeconomic barriers can limit an individual’s access to drug-related treatments, but the affordable …

Expert Perceptions Of Needs Of Pregnant Individuals With Substance Use Disorder In Kentucky: A Qualitative Multiple Case Study, Emma Foret Latham

Theses and Dissertations--Music

Substance misuse is a pandemic with far reaching effects on those personally affected, their families, and their communities. Kentucky has one of the highest rates of substance use disorder (SUD) in the country, and most research has focused on how to help men in recovery. There is very little research regarding how to support pregnant individuals with SUD. The purpose of this qualitative thesis was to identify the perceived needs of pregnant individuals with SUD, define characteristics of effective care, and learn how music therapists can support this population in substance use rehabilitation settings from the perspectives of experienced professionals. …

Community And Cultural-Centered Music Therapy With The Boys & Girls Club: A Qualitative Case Study, Moriah Treadwell

Music Therapy Theses

COMMUNITY AND CULTURAL-CENTERED MUSIC THERAPY WITH THE BOYS & GIRLS CLUB: A QUALITATIVE CASE STUDY

Abstract

Music therapy with The Boys & Girls Club of a rural area of middle Georgia would create a positive outlet for the youth to delve into an experience that would create worthwhile opportunities for them outside of their everyday routine, while implementing coping mechanisms, self-actualizing habits, and social benefits. With the implementation of music therapy used in The Boys & Girls Club of The Big Bend, this population would be exposed to not only a therapy that they are not accustomed to, but they …

Editorial: Perspectives On Music And Pain: From Evidence To Theory And Application, Annabel J. Cohen, Andrea Mcgraw Hunt, Eduardo A. Garza-Villarreal, Xuejing Lu

College of Performing Arts Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Music And Academics: The Ultimate Mashup?, Emmah Keller

BUHealth

Music surrounds us. It is a significant part of our daily lives. People listen to music in a variety of settings and for multiple reasons. Students often listen to music while studying, in hopes of increasing productivity. Others listen to music as a way to relax before an exam. Yet...is there proof that music is beneficial for academic performance? Research shows that music and academics is a good mashup. Study after study reveals that music has several benefits for students. It reduces anxiety, improves focus and concentration, and enhances cognition. These all result in improved academic performance. So, students who …

The Bereaved Songwriters' Project, Laura A. Figueroa

Doctor of Education (Ed.D)

The purpose of this quantitative, quasi-experimental study was to evaluate bereaved individuals’ responses to a reflective songwriting program intervention (RSPI). The purposive and convenient sample included 30 bereaved adults who were members of the teaching staff at a private, Christian, K-12 school in the southeastern United States and/or past or present members of the church with which the school was affiliated. The researcher developed a simple and succinct RSPI in which study participants were prompted to create an original musical piece using personal reflections, memories, and descriptions in song form to commemorate a deceased loved one. The Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well-being …

Music As A Therapeutic Medium In Occupational Therapy: A Scoping Review, Kevin Leon, Steven M. Gerardi, Angela Blackwell

Summer 2023 Virtual OTD Capstone Symposium

Music has been recognized as having therapeutic properties for people with a range of conditions and is the focus of the music therapy profession. Although occupational therapy (OT) has used music as therapeutic medium, the limited literature on the use of music in OT has not been systematically reviewed, making it difficult for OT practitioners to frame the use of music in their practices. The objective of this review was to identify how OT practitioners have reported they have used music as a therapeutic medium in OT practice. This review used the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analyses …

Church Music Leaders In The Usa: Prioritizing Technical Competence And Inclusion, Heather Maclachlan

Music Faculty Publications

Church music leaders in the United States pursue two priorities: technical accuracy and fluency in the music-making of their church ensembles, and, including as many volunteers as possible in those same ensembles. At times, the prioritization of technical competence and inclusion conflict, because volunteers whose playing or singing is less than competent seek to be included in church music groups. Facing this ethical dilemma, church music leaders operate ethically; that is, they employ strategies and develop policies based on their understanding of their responsibilities to other people (Warren 2014). During interviews, they verbally espouse an ethic of deontology, but in …

Why Not Be Free: The Black Worldmaking Praxis, Research Method, & Manifesto For Developing Music Interventions Against Stress In Black Youth, Armond Epps Dorsey

Dartmouth College Master’s Theses

Why Not Be Free? is an interdisciplinary exploration of music intervention development demonstrating the application of my integrated research and artistic practices through an outlined antiracist method for designing music to reduce stress in Black college youth and a manifesto detailing the compositional process. I draw from Black feminist and womanist thought, music cognition, and public health literature to outline a framework for designing music interventions to reduce stress among Black populations: the Music Medicine Critical Race Praxis. I situate my work among Black speculative artists reimagining experiences in everyday Black life as well as music intervention researchers integrating …

Using Vignettes To Change Music Therapists' Attitudes Toward Research, Adrienne Flight

Expressive Therapies Dissertations

This study used a three-condition experimental design to determine which was more effective in changing music therapists’ attitudes toward research: a vignette demonstrating positive outcomes of using research to inform clinical work (PO), a vignette showing negative outcomes of not using it to inform clinical work (NO), or a research summary (RS). The outcome measure had three subscales, focused on perceptions of usefulness, anxiety, and positive predispositions.

Respondents (N = 656) included students and professionals. Findings indicated that anxiety decreased more for the RS than the NO condition, F(2, 653) = 4.0, p = .02, η² = …

What Is Competency? Exploring Perceptions Of Functional Musicianship In Music Therapy, Catherine Befi-Hensel

Expressive Therapies Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine the perceptions of music therapy clinicians, educators, clinical supervisors, and students in the United States regarding functional music skill competence. The study further attempted to identify potential factors that may influence perceptions of functional music skill competence, including the principal instrument, amount of clinical and supervision experience, and educational background of the rater. Data for this study were collected using an online survey that asked participants to listen to 12 musical excerpts and rate each for proficiency in overall musicality, instrumental accompaniment, vocal performance, and musical competence. Additionally, participants had the option …

Examining The Use Of Expressive Arts Therapies In Neurorehabilitation Treatment Planning, Rebecca J. Horner

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

Those undergoing neurorehabilitation after stroke and traumatic brain injury report a diminished sense of overall wellness. This paper examines the conceivable benefits of introducing expressive arts therapies, which is the therapeutic use and combination of the visual arts, movement, drama, music, writing and other intermodal creative processes, into physical therapy and neurorehabilitation treatment planning. Expressive arts therapies have the capacity to engage with an individual’s physical, emotional, social and spiritual states concurrently. They simultaneously offer the ability to promote an increased sense of well-being, address mind-body disconnects, and process trauma non-verbally.

The sections of this narrative literature review focus on …

Jewish Wordless Singing In Music Therapy And Burnout Prevention With Outpatient Mental Health Clinicians, Elizabeth Zinn

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

Existing literature has shown a rise in burnout levels for mental health clinicians, especially in light of the recent and ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. This capstone project focused on understanding how Jewish wordless melodies (niggunim) may be used as a technique in group singing in music therapy as a strategy for preventing clinician burnout. Research has demonstrated that music therapy techniques may be beneficial in addressing the causes and components of burnout though there is minimal research on the use of niggunim in music therapy, and none on the use of niggunim to prevent burnout. A single-session niggunim-based intervention was …

Exploring The Hinterland: The Development Of A Person-Centered Music Therapy Method For A Hospice Patient With Lewy Body Dementia, Paige Chaplin

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

This thesis explores the development and implementation of a music therapy method with an individual diagnosed with dementia with Lewy Bodies (DLB) receiving home hospice services. There is very little known about the effect of music therapy on patients diagnosed with DLB. Informed by Tom Kitwood’s Person-Centered Care (PCC) philosophy for dementia care, Yumiko Sato’s Musical Life Review (MLR) model, and Lisa Kelly and Bill Ahessy’s Reminiscence-Focused Music Therapy (RFMT) model, a clinical method was developed to explore the effects of person-centered music therapy on reminiscence, caregiver connection, and identity. I drew inspiration from music therapy concepts by Tony Wigram …

The Breath As A Holistic Regulator: An Expressive Arts Therapy Community Project, Jacobita Munoz

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

This capstone offers the idea that evolution has challenged appropriate breathing and led humans to breathe incorrectly, thus negatively affecting their physical and mental health. As breath can damage the body, it can also serve as a regulator of the mind and body. This thesis points out the multiple effects when uniting controlled respiration, drumming and nature sounds. Breathing, music and nature have many things in common. These include repetition, pattern, awareness of the present moment and relaxation. They all contain a rhythm, and they offer self-regulatory skills. Music-based expressive arts therapies intervention is postulated to provide breathing techniques, united …

Talk Box In Music Therapy With Speech And Language Impairments Resulting From Tracheostomy: A Critical Review Of The Literature, Jonathan Kang

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

Tracheostomy patients struggle with one of the most significant and essential components to the human identity, that is, communication. When a person’s communication is obstructed, access to their intangible, inner world is also severed – leaving their thoughts, feelings, and memories, all of which are core to the human experience, unshared. Speech assistance for tracheostomy patients currently includes above cuff vocalization efforts using one-way speaking valves, augmentative and alternative communication methods such as speech generating devices and the electrolarynx. This thesis will introduce and discuss a musical instrument effect called the talk box as an integration of music therapy techniques …

Prescribing Music To Forensic Settings: A Literature Review, Sydney A. Bouchard

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

Though prison is inherently musical, evidence-based forensic music therapy is rather understudied. This thesis critically reviews musical experiences in forensic environments and synthesizes its intersection with inmates' psychological distress. Additionally, the literature explores how forensic music therapy can act as a health and social resource for the incarcerated and their communities. Engaging in this work is vital because healthier correctional systems mean healthier communities (Hopwood, 2021). This review synthesizes relevant literature to inform better practices in music therapy, counseling, and healthcare and seeks to popularize discussion around an otherwise unpopular population, incarcerated folx. Emerging themes include (1) incarceration breeds negative …

Hailey's Hearing Aids, Hailey Marie Garcia

Whittier Scholars Program

Individuals from the deaf and hard-of-hearing community are likely to experience more anxiety and depression due to defective cognitive, social, communicational, and emotional skills (Azizi et al., 2019). The word “disability” is embedded with historical negative connotations with phrases such as “deaf and dumb” because if they were deaf or mute then they were automatically labeled as inferior (Horovitz, 2007). Since the 18th century, the DHH community has been seen as incapable, even inhuman, hence the development of emotional deficiencies that bleed into one’s perception of society and their self esteem (Gallaudet, 1886).

How do you navigate a hearing world …

How Music Therapists Experience Improvising With Nonspeaking Clients: A Thematic Analysis, Alexandra Timoshenko

Theses & Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to explore music therapists’ subjective experience improvising with nonspeaking clients with intellectual disabilities. The research question addressed was: How do clinicians experience improvisatory music-making with clients who are nonspeaking? In music therapy, the client and the therapist both have significant roles to play within the therapeutic relationship. Three music therapists with at least five years of experience primarily using improvisation when working with nonspeaking clients with intellectual disabilities were chosen via purposeful sampling to participate in this study and were individually interviewed to discuss their subjective experiences. Data were collected through individual semi-structured interviews …

An Exploration Into Art Therapists' Experiences Of Collaboration With Music Therapists To Treat People With Autistic Spectrum Disorder, Heejoon Park Jun

Theses & Dissertations

This study explored the experiences of art therapists who used music in art therapy sessions with and without the presence of a music therapist. Two participants were selected through purposeful sampling and participated in a 45-minute, virtual, semi-structured individual interview. Participants met the following criteria: (a) board-certified art therapist (ATR-BC), (b) a minimum of two years of professional work experience as an art therapist, (c) experience in working with music therapists and using pre-recorded music without the presence of a music therapist during the art therapy sessions for people with autism spectrum disorders (ASD), and (d) speaks Korean and/or English. …

Early Childhood Educators' Understanding And Perspectives Of Music Therapy, Sophia G. Woods

Theses & Dissertations

Few research studies have explored early childhood educators’ understanding and perspectives of music therapy. In this study, 28 early childhood educators were surveyed, answering open- and closed-ended questions relating to what they understand about and how they perceive the profession of music therapy. Descriptive statistics were used to analyze quantitative data and thematic analysis to analyze qualitative data. Quantitative data highlighted the little education provided to early childhood educators about music therapy and suggests that very few early childhood educators have worked with music therapists. The three participants who had worked with a music therapist reported that music therapy has …

Use Of Eeg-Based Machine Learning To Predict Music-Related Brain Activity, Charles Skutt

Undergraduate Theses and Capstone Projects

Music has many awe-inspiring characteristics. Some may refer to it as a “universal language” with the ability to transcend the barriers of speech, while others may describe its ability to evoke intense emotional experiences for the listener. Regardless of the description, it is a commonly held view that music can have many profound effects. Studies of music’s effects have found these beliefs to be more than pure conjecture, finding that music interacts with and changes our brains in physical and emotional ways. Music can even have clinical applications, such as music therapy. This type of therapy has been shown to …

Use Of Eeg-Based Machine Learning To Predict Music-Related Brain Activity, Charles Skutt

Graduate Dissertations and Theses

Music has many awe-inspiring characteristics. Some may refer to it as a “universal language” with the ability to transcend the barriers of speech, while others may describe its ability to evoke intense emotional experiences for the listener. Regardless of the description, it is a commonly held view that music can have many profound effects. Studies of music’s effects have found these beliefs to be more than pure conjecture, finding that music interacts with and changes our brains in physical and emotional ways. Music can even have clinical applications, such as music therapy. This type of therapy has been shown to …

Music Therapists' Perspectives On The Use Of Heavy Metal Music In Music Therapy, Jessie E. Davis

Theses & Dissertations

There is little research on heavy metal music in general, and even less research on the application of this genre in music therapy. This study collected data from 201 board certified music therapists who have experience using heavy metal music in their music therapy practice. A variety of open- and closed-ended questions were answered by these participants to gather their perspectives on this topic. Analyzation of quantitative data occurred using cross-tabulation descriptive statistics through Google Forms and qualitative data were analyzed through coding and a content analysis. Quantitative data concluded that participants would like to see an increase in the …

Grab A Mic: Making Intergenerational Connections Through Music Therapy Intervention, Alayna Bollinger

Honors Projects

This Honors Project looks into creating a hypothetical intervention program incorporating BGSU Students and residents from Wood Haven Healthcare in Bowling Green, Ohio. The program, which is called Grab a MIC: Making Intergenerational Connections, seeks to answer if intergenerational music therapy intervention will help alleviate negative perceptions of aging and geriatric depression, and promote intergenerational understanding. This program will include 5 BGSU students from the College of Musical Arts and 5 residents from Wood Haven Healthcare and persist over 7 weeks total. The students selected will be volunteers and will preferably all specialize in different instruments within the string family …

Effectiveness Of A Nurse-Led Songwriting Intervention On Quality Of Life For Individuals With Chronic Pain, Marcia Henry

Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) Translational and Clinical Research Projects

Abstract

Chronic pain affects 20% of the U.S. and global population. With the worsening opioid crisis there is a growing need for alternative therapies. Individuals with chronic pain often experience depression, stress, and poor quality of life. The Theory of Unpleasant Symptoms guided this prospective cohort design project in a pilot study (N = 13) examining the effectiveness of songwriting to improve quality of life in this population. A master’s prepared nurse and experienced songwriter administered 6 weekly songwriting sessions in an online chronic pain support group. Chronic pain (Graded Chronic Pain Scale-Revised & Pain Enjoyment General Activities subscale), depression …