Journal of Music Therapy最新文献

The 2019 coronavirus disease 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 US. 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 settings; (2) serving children, youth, adults, or a mixture of ages; and (3) practicing NMT or not. The general perception of telehealth music therapy was positive, and NMTs believed that the clear protocols and transformation design model were helpful to them in adapting services to telehealth. There were no significant differences in percent-change of clinical hours among music therapists in different employment settings or serving different client age groups. Music therapists who said they practiced within the NMT treatment model lost a significantly lower percentage of clinical hours with autistic clients than those who did not practice NMT. Possible reasons for this result and the need for further research are discussed.

The concept of relationship completion is embodied as the core belief for end-of-life care in Taiwan, known as the Four Expressions in Life. No studies have been published investigating and trying to understand how music therapy facilitates the Four Expressions in Life. This convergent mixed-methods study examined the effects of music therapy to facilitate relationship completion for patients at the end of life and their families in Taiwan, and explored their personal experiences in music therapy sessions. Thirty-four patients at end-of-life care and 36 of their family members participated in a single music therapy session with a one-group pretest-posttest design using standardized quality-of-life measures for patients at the end of life and families. A nested sample of 5 patients and 9 family members completed semi-structured interviews. Significant differences between the pre and post session scores were revealed for patients in the Life Completion subscale of the QUAL-E (p < .001), and the global QoL Indicator (p < .001), and for families in the Completion subscale of the QUAL-E (Fam) (p < .001), and the Overall Quality of Life (p < .001). Four themes around opportunities emerged from the interviews: the opportunity for exploration, for connection, for expression, and for healing. The integrated findings suggest that music therapy facilitated relationship completion and improved quality of life for both patients and their families. Furthermore, this study supports that the transformative level of music therapy practice within a single session for end-of-life care is attainable.

The Journal of Music Therapy (JMT) authors' and editorial review board members' (ERBM) affiliation locations represent an aspect of diversity through differing cultures and political, healthcare, and educational systems. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to examine the countries of JMT authors' and ERBM's institutional affiliations from 1998 to 2022. We established inclusion and exclusion criteria, operationally defined categories, and built databases. A total of 433 articles met our inclusion criteria. Most articles were published by authors/author teams located in the United States (n = 305; 70.44%) or in a single international country (n = 85; 19.63%), while fewer articles were published by author teams located in multiple international countries (n = 23, 5.31%) or in international countries and the United States (n = 20, 4.62%). Authors were from 21 countries, and there tended to be a slight decline over time in articles by United States authors. When examining the total countries represented, United States authors (n = 330) had the most articles followed by Australia (n = 32), Norway (n = 18), England (n = 14), Israel (n = 13), and Canada, Denmark, and South Korea (all n = 12). There were 632 total JMT ERBM with 470 located within the United States and 162 located internationally. Although all ERBM's affiliations were in the United States in 1998, these data gradually changed. There were more ERBM located internationally than in the United States from 2020 to 2022. Most international ERBM were from Australia, Canada, England, Israel, and Spain. Implications, limitations, and suggestions for future research are provided.

Individuals with Parkinson's disease (PD) experience speech and voice-related symptoms that diminish communication and quality of life. Semi-occluded vocal tract (SOVT) exercises are targeted interventions that, when combined with the positive psychosocial benefits of therapeutic group singing (TGS), may affect outcomes. The purpose of this study was to explore the effectiveness of SOVT exercises, specifically straw phonation combined with TGS, to improve voice quality and mood for individuals with PD. We used a true experimental pretest-posttest between-subjects design (i.e., randomized controlled trial) facilitated by a board-certified music therapist. All participants (N = 27) were randomly assigned to one of three groups (a) straw phonation combined with TGS (SP + TGS, n = 10), (b) TGS (n = 10), and (c) speaking-only control group (n = 7). Participants completed voice recordings for acoustic measures and the Visual Analogue Mood Scale for mood analysis before and after a 30-min intervention. The results demonstrated significant improvement in voice quality evidenced by decreasing Acoustic Voice Quality Index scores following a single session for both SP + TGS and TGS intervention groups when compared to the control. Happiness scores improved in the experimental groups when compared to control. Although not statistically significant, participants in the experimental groups (SP + TGS, TGS) demonstrated better mean mood scores on happiness, anxiety, and angry when compared to control, indicating a positive psychological response to the singing interventions. Overall, this study indicated the effectiveness of SP + TGS and TGS as promising therapeutic interventions for voice quality and mood in individuals with PD.

Although there is literature exploring burnout and music therapists who have left the profession, there is a lack of research exploring the lived experience of music therapists who have remained in the profession for their careers. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to understand the lived experience of music therapy clinicians in the United States who remained in the profession for their careers. We individually interviewed eight female-identifying music therapy clinicians who had been in the profession between 25 and 48 (M = 40.63; SD = 8.53) years. We used interpretive phenomenological analysis to analyze the data. Participants reviewed their transcripts and the results to provide credibility to the themes. We identified nine themes that described career longevity: centering service users; other professional opportunities and responsibilities; building a sustainable and thriving program; humility, professional agency, and growth; professional service to support peers and service users; training and supervising music therapists; connecting with the professional community; coping with work-related stressors; and music as a resource for resiliency. On the basis of these results, we developed a model depicting professional resiliency in music therapy that centered and revolved around the service users. In addition to their clinical expertise, there is considerable knowledge to be gained from music therapists regarding professional resiliency and career longevity. Additional scholarship in music therapy career longevity is necessary to grow the profession and increase access to services. Implications, limitations, and suggestions for future research are provided.

Guided Imagery and Music (GIM) is now practiced and taught on every inhabited continent. With this international growth of GIM, both GIM therapists and clients have unique cultural backgrounds that are often different from the US American context in which the method was originally developed. According to this reality, we undertook a cross-cultural study to explore how cultural factors relate to ways in which GIM clients engage in the therapeutic process. This research study is based on a qualitative and interpretivist approach that utilized thematic analysis of semi-structured interviews. Six GIM advanced trainees from three countries (Japan, Spain, and the US) participated in the study. Eight themes emerged that describe significant cultural factors that affected the initial stages of engaging in GIM as clients: personal experiences with non-ordinary states of consciousness (NOSC); spirituality; physical distance; linguistic expression; professional/academic background; socio-economic aspects; social norms/expectations; and non-directive facilitation/attitudes. The first seven of these themes constituted aspects of the participants' individual sociocultural backgrounds that shaped their initial experiences of and expectations for GIM sessions and affected their GIM engagement. The eighth theme emerged as a transcultural factor in which a non-directive approach used by their GIM therapists allowed participants to engage in GIM more readily and form a new set of norms and expectations within their GIM sessions. Our research suggests that as participants developed a new set of norms and expectations as they acclimated to GIM, the therapist's non-directive stance provided a bridge between these two sets of social or cultural norms.

This study investigated the experiences of music therapy private practice business leaders providing services in school, healthcare, and community settings, including clients' homes, during the first 12 months of the COVID-19 pandemic. Qualitative content analysis was utilized to analyze semi-structured interview data collected from 10 business leaders (5 CEOs and 5 clinical directors) recruited from 5 businesses. 8 themes were revealed: (1) significant impact shaped by uncertainty and values, (2) temporal dimensions of change, (3) changing dynamics of relationships, (4) issues leading to burnout, (5) unexpected opportunities for all stakeholders, (6) the weight of being responsive, (7) the ambiguity of role changes, and (8) the collective functioning of the clinical team. In the context of leadership and teamwork, these themes illuminated the challenges these business leaders encountered while also providing insights into the importance of collaborative structures, transparent communication, and flexibility integral to leading organizational change. Further, resilience, robustness, and antifragility provide theoretical constructs through which to consider change processes, providing music therapy professionals with the opportunity to consider core leadership, teamwork, and organizational characteristics essential to music therapy teams.