Verbal Processing within the Music Therapy Relationship

Music therapy scholars have suggested that verbal processing is widely integrated into music therapy practice, though specific implementation varies based on the therapeutic approach and the clients’ level of functioning. Results from music therapy studies have suggested that clients find verbal processing both important and useful, yet the development of verbal processing skills can be difficult for music therapists and music therapy students. Given the complexity of the skills needed, inclusion of a model or framework may help focus and organize skill development. One model that may have wide utility among music therapy practice is the microskills model (microcounseling). Microcounseling is built upon ethical and cultural competence, addresses skills in a hierarchical manner, and can be combined with a number of theoretical approaches. Research shows that this model has been successfully translated into 21 languages, used in a range of helping professions, and taught in both traditional and self-instruction formats. Perhaps most importantly, the model initially focuses on skills needed by all music therapists, regardless of theoretical orientation, and then progresses to skills needed to effectively facilitate common music therapy interventions like song discussion. Combining this model with other elements of music therapy education may better promote skill development and guide music therapists in skill usage.

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Psychodynamic Music Therapy

Voices A World Forum for Music Therapy ◽

10.15845/voices.v16i2.882 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 16 (2) ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Jinah Kim

Keyword(s):

Music Therapy ◽

Therapeutic Relationship ◽

Music Listening ◽

Basic Principles ◽

Music Therapist ◽

Verbal Processing ◽

Therapeutic Goals ◽

The Core ◽

Clinical Vignettes ◽

Therapeutic Processes

This paper introduces and explores the basic principles of psychodynamic approaches in music therapy. Music is used as a means to explore both conscious and unconscious issues as well as the internal world of the individuals involved in music therapy. However, the focus of therapy is on therapeutic relationship, especially the dynamics of transference and counter-transference between the client and the music therapist. Musical experiences, such as music listening, songs, and improvisation, can be used to facilitate the therapeutic processes, and to achieve individualized therapeutic goals. When clinically appropriate, verbal processing might play as crucial a role as the musical processing. Practitioners of psychodynamic approaches often strive to gain meaning and in-depth understandings from therapeutic experiences, and the approach is therefore suitable for individuals who are ready to work through their personal issues within a therapeutic relationship. Various approaches and techniques have been developed in psychotherapy as well as in music therapy. Perhaps the only commonality in these approaches is that psychodynamic thinking informs the direction of the therapy and therapeutic processes. Clinical vignettes will be introduced within the article to highlight a triadic dynamic—the client, the music therapist, and the music—in order to illustrate the core aspects of psychodynamic music therapy.

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A Music-Centered Perspective on Music Therapy Assessment

The Oxford Handbook of Philosophical and Qualitative Assessment in Music Education ◽

10.1093/oxfordhb/9780190265182.013.14 ◽

2019 ◽

pp. 241-256

Author(s):

John A. Carpente ◽

Kenneth Aigen

Keyword(s):

Music Therapy ◽

Neurodevelopmental Disorders ◽

Assessment Tool ◽

Assessment Tools ◽

Therapy Assessment ◽

Therapy Relationship ◽

The Individual ◽

Functional Areas

This chapter critiques existing music therapy assessment tools for their inadequate attention to specifically musical processes, for considering only nonmusical areas of functioning, and for an overly narrow examination of functional areas in isolation. A music-centered perspective is offered, the foundations of which remedy the deficiencies of the predominance of existing assessment tools. One assessment tool—the Individual Music-Centered Assessment Profile for Neurodevelopmental Disorders (IMCAP-ND)—is described in detail to illustrate a music therapy assessment that looks at functional areas within music and within the context of a coactive music therapy relationship.

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The Evolution of Music Therapy

Musik- Tanz und Kunsttherapie ◽

10.1026/0933-6885/a000221 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 26 (4) ◽

pp. 207-221

Author(s):

Wolfgang Mastnak

Keyword(s):

Music Therapy ◽

Evidence Based Medicine ◽

Wide Spectrum ◽

Evidence Based ◽

Modern Music ◽

Guided Imagery And Music ◽

Theoretical Perspectives ◽

International Importance ◽

Evolution Of Music ◽

Based Medicine

Abstract. Five overlapping eras or stages can be distinguished in the evolution of music therapy. The first one refers to the historical roots and ethnological sources that have influenced modern meta-theoretical perspectives and practices. The next stage marks the heterogeneous origins of modern music therapy in the 20th century that mirror psychological positions and novel clinical ideas about the healing power of music. The subsequent heyday of music therapeutic models and schools of thought yielded an enormous variety of concepts and methods such as Nordoff–Robbins music therapy, Orff music therapy, analytic music therapy, regulatory music therapy, guided imagery and music, sound work, etc. As music therapy gained in international importance, clinical applications required research on its therapeutic efficacy. According to standards of evidence-based medicine and with regard to clearly defined diagnoses, research on music therapeutic practice was the core of the fourth stage of evolution. The current stage is characterized by the emerging epistemological dissatisfaction with the paradigmatic reductionism of evidence-based medicine and by the strong will to discover the true healing nature of music. This trend has given birth to a wide spectrum of interdisciplinary hermeneutics for novel foundations of music therapy. Epigenetics, neuroplasticity, regulatory and chronobiological sciences, quantum physical philosophies, universal harmonies, spiritual and religious views, and the cultural anthropological phenomenon of esthetics and creativity have become guiding principles. This article should not be regarded as a historical treatise but rather as an attempt to identify theoretical landmarks in the evolution of modern music therapy and to elucidate the evolution of its spirit.

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An Alternative to Cohen's κ

European Psychologist ◽

10.1027/1016-9040.11.1.12 ◽

2006 ◽

Vol 11 (1) ◽

pp. 12-24 ◽

Cited By ~ 19

Author(s):

Alexander von Eye

Keyword(s):

Simulation Study ◽

Null Hypothesis ◽

Categorical Variables ◽

Alternative Measure ◽

Rater Agreement ◽

Verbal Processing ◽

Heavy Tailed ◽

Applicant Selection

At the level of manifest categorical variables, a large number of coefficients and models for the examination of rater agreement has been proposed and used. The most popular of these is Cohen's κ. In this article, a new coefficient, κ s , is proposed as an alternative measure of rater agreement. Both κ and κ s allow researchers to determine whether agreement in groups of two or more raters is significantly beyond chance. Stouffer's z is used to test the null hypothesis that κ s = 0. The coefficient κ s allows one, in addition to evaluating rater agreement in a fashion parallel to κ, to (1) examine subsets of cells in agreement tables, (2) examine cells that indicate disagreement, (3) consider alternative chance models, (4) take covariates into account, and (5) compare independent samples. Results from a simulation study are reported, which suggest that (a) the four measures of rater agreement, Cohen's κ, Brennan and Prediger's κ n , raw agreement, and κ s are sensitive to the same data characteristics when evaluating rater agreement and (b) both the z-statistic for Cohen's κ and Stouffer's z for κ s are unimodally and symmetrically distributed, but slightly heavy-tailed. Examples use data from verbal processing and applicant selection.

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