Music Therapy Commons^™

Benefit Of Harp Music In A Music Therapy Setting, Emma Christensen

Student Research Symposium

Music therapy is an evidence based form of arts therapy that utilizes music in order to achieve non musical goals. Music therapy is an accessible, personalized form of therapy that utilizes music making in the forms of improvisation, composition, reception, and performance. This often includes, but is not limited to, the use of guitar, piano, and singing.

While not the most common instrument used in music therapy settings, the harp has a reputation for bringing peace and comfort to listeners due to the timbre and resonance of the instrument. With its similarities to the harp, research on the monochord table …

The Value Of Neurologic Music Therapy For A Student Music Therapist, Katie Fairbourn

Student Research Symposium

Neurologic Music Therapy(NMT) is an interdisciplinary training, unaffiliated with the music therapy profession. NMT is a world wide medical organization that specializes in research, techniques and practices that specialize in the brain's relationship with music. Due to the broad nature of the music therapy profession, many undergraduate students either briefly know about NMT or don't know anything about it at all. Research has proven the effectiveness of NMT techniques and principles, but no one has examined the worth of NMT training when combined with music therapy education and clinical experience.My project examines and analyzes the effect of NMT on the …

Radical Youth Work: A Community Based Approach To Working With Youth, Young Adults And Families, Weston J. Robins

National Youth Advocacy & Resilience Conference

Eternal Strength Center for Radical Youth Work is a blended community center with customizable mental health therapeutic support for youth, young adults and families. Providing humanistic and person centered psychotherapy and counseling, alongside experiential therapies and community engagement we support families and youth struggling with anxiety, depression, substance abuse, self harm, suicidality and other challenges on their developmental growth journey.

Antidepressants Versus Music Therapy: Which Treatment Is Better For Treating Depression In Parkinson's Disease?, Emaan Dawood

Virginias Collegiate Honors Council Conference

Music and medicine are merging to treat depression in Parkinson’s disease (PD). Antidepressants, the current standard, demonstrate mixed effects in clinical trials, warranting other treatment options. Here, I compare music therapy to antidepressants in the treatment of depression in PD via literature review. Studies of depressed PD patients undergoing music therapy and/or antidepressants were reviewed with attention to variables including depression (on a patient-reported outcome) that were measured pre- and post- therapy. In the music studies, improvements were seen in depression. Methodological inconsistencies across these studies, a paucity of studies, and small sample sizes, however, necessitate more research to reach …

Willowcreek Middle School Alternative Program: Successfully Working Through Trauma, Debra B. Ekdahl 6061

National Youth Advocacy & Resilience Conference

Willowcreek Middle School in Portage Indiana is not your typical alternative school. We offer trauma informed practices in place of student expulsions. A safe structured environment, reduced class time, academic strategies, mindfulness, yoga, and community service, all help to provide the educational and social/emotional support necessary to help students at risk reach their potential and eventually transition back to the traditional classroom.

Inclusive Ensembles: Differentiating For The Singer On The Autism Spectrum, Natalie Wilkins

Posters-at-the-Capitol

Exceptional children belong in music classrooms. Music ensemble directors need to overcome complex challenges to meet the goal of inclusion because ensembles often contain a mixture of ages, grades, social and intellectual development stages, musical skills, and a wide variety of diverse learning needs. This study focuses on how a choral ensemble director may create an inclusive environment for students on the Autism Spectrum.

This study reviewed current research on creating inclusive rehearsal environments. Analysis revealed varied methods for differentiation including modified/adapted scores that make use of color-coding, personalized parts, and symbolic notation; choral ensemble formats, such as self-contained choirs, …

The Song That Lives On, Katlyn Miller

KUCC -- Kutztown University Composition Conference

This personal essay dives into the relationship between Evanescence's song "My Immortal" and two specific events of loss Miller has experienced in her life. The paper explores how different forms of loss intertwine and how music is the bridge between those varying types of loss.

A Brain-Friendly Approach To Music Literacy, Taylor Davis

Posters-at-the-Capitol

The purpose of this study was to explore how the brain processes information, stores it in long-term memory and then applies that knowledge to teaching music in a classroom/rehearsal setting. We observed how the working memory, the system responsible for processing information from short-term and long-term memory can function with greater efficiency. We observed how the number of items available for processing in the working memory may be increased through a process identified as “chunking.” Chunking is when short patterns, or bits of information, are combined to form longer sequences. When applying these brain-friendly learning concepts to music, the instructor …

The Effects Of Rhythm For Social Emotional Learning Skills Development, Jonathan O. Mande

Lesley University Community of Scholars Day

Many people talk about the importance of music in school and learning, we all know about its effects on cognitive development for children and adults. Though despite these universally known facts, music education programs are increasingly underfunded in schools, private lessons are not accessible to most people, while our country is simultaneously suffering from an increase in academic retention and destructive societal conflicts. Music brings all people together and at its core is rhythm. It makes available a space for joy; to fully express love, build bonds and strengthen our individual spirits. When used intentionally, music heals and is a …

Making Music To Enhance Mental Health In Eldoret, Kenya, Michael Peters, Ethan Wahle, Ellen Schellhase

Engagement & Service-Learning Summit

After attending this session, participants will be appreciate the power of music and witness the level of engagement that street youth in a resource-limited country have as they unite behind a common goal. Street youth in Eldoret, Kenya are at a high risk of experiencing psychological conditions like Post-traumatic Stress Disorder with contributing factors including homelessness, an unstable family structure, and exposure to alcoholism and drug abuse in parent figures. Music therapy has shown benefits in children to alleviate and manage some of the symptoms of emotional disturbances. The goal was to create a sustainable music program in Eldoret, Kenya …

The Use Of Rhyme, Rhythm, And Melody As A Form Of Repetition Priming To Aid In Encoding, Storage, And Retrieval Of Semantic Memories In Alzheimer’S Patients, Faiz Plastikwala

Virginias Collegiate Honors Council Conference

Treating Alzheimer’s disease, especially through non-pharmaceutical means, has become increasingly important over the past few decades. I examined the use of melody, rhyme, and rhythm as encoding mechanisms to aid in the retrieval of long term semantic information by juxtaposing previous experiments in the field. Melody, rhyme, and rhythm provide an organizational structure to facilitate the encoding of information. Specifically, chunking, the grouping of smaller units into larger ‘chunks’, helps facilitate long term encoding in patients, and is the byproduct of the organizational structure of a text. A major drawback of using these devices is the loss in the depth …

Experience And Enjoy Therapeutic West African Drumming, Danny S. Daniels

National Youth Advocacy & Resilience Conference

This presentation is designed to introduce the benefits of a therapeutic West African drumming program to educators and mental health professionals. Participants will engage in a basic drumming class where they will experience the academic and socio-emotional benefits of drumming while practicing an African rhythm. How to relate American School Counselor Association (ASCA) standards as well as Georgia Performance Standards (GPS) and Common Core Georgia Performance Standards (CCGPS) will be explained and demonstrated by the presentation facilitators.

Alzheimer's Disease And The Importance Of Music Therapy, Patricia Kautenberger

Celebration of Learning

Worldwide, statistics suggest that by the year 2050 as many as 80 million individuals will be living with Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Because current pharmacological interventions can only slow its progression, the pathology eventually overcomes the benefits of the medications, thus leaving a deficit in long-term treatment. However, the preservation of the brain’s ability to work with and benefit from music has created a window of opportunity for an alternative treatment. Music therapy has been shown to be a promising alternative treatment because it has very little risk, and studies suggest that it is effective in improving familiarity and recollection in …