Music Therapy for Neuropsychiatric Symptoms in Dementia

Neuropsychiatric symptoms that result from dementia can take a great toll on not only the patient, but the patient’s caregivers. In 2015, Hsu et al. conducted a feasibility study investigating the preliminary effects of a five-month music therapy treatment program on neuropsychiatric symptoms in individuals with a diagnosis of dementia.  The study was carried out in two United Kingdom nursing homes, with one-on-one sessions with a qualified music therapist who was registered with the Health and Care Professions Council. Continue reading →


UntitledFive voices on one podcast! Yes, it’s true. Continuing our series of podcasts with editorial board members of the Journal of Music Therapy, we have Caitlin Krater, Dr. Sheri Robb, and Dr. Debra Burns.

Caitlin Krater, MS, MT-BC completed her masters at Indiana University Purdue University in Indianapolis (IUPUI) where her research focused on the use of implementation science with music therapy research to highlight the importance of music therapists’ clinical judgment during the implementation of a standardized protocol during stem cell transplant. She is involved in several other ongoing research projects seeking to better understand music therapists’ clinical decision-making as well as knowledge and use of an Evidenced Based Practice Model. She is currently the music therapist on the stem cell transplant unit at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center.

Burns Debra_01Debra Burns, PhD, MT-BC is Associate Professor of Music Therapy and Chair of the Department of Music and Arts Technology in the Purdue School of Engineering and Technology at IUPUI. Dr. Burns’ holds a PhD in Music Education and Music Therapy from the University of Kansas, MM in Music Therapy from Illinois State University and a BA in Music Education from Glenville State College in West Virginia. She specializes in music-based intervention research using mixed methodologies across the cancer treatment continuum from active treatment to survivorship and end of life. She is also interested in the integration of music technologies within music therapy pedagogy and clinical practice.

robb_sheri (03.14).jpgSheri L. Robb, PhD, MT-BC is an Associate Professor and Director of the Undergraduate Honors Program at the Indiana University School of Nursing, Indianapolis, IN. She also serves as Program Director for the Indiana Clinical and Translational Sciences Institute KL2 Young Investigators Program. Sheri has received funding from the National Institutes of Health and Children’s Oncology Group, and her program of research focuses on development and testing of music therapy interventions to manage distress, improve positive health outcomes, and prevent secondary psychosocial morbidity in children and adolescents with cancer and their parents. She is internationally recognized for her work in pediatric music therapy and serves as Editor for the Journal of Music Therapy.

MTRB #15 – Claire Ghetti

ghetti_bw Claire Ghetti is part of the Grieg Academy Music Therapy Research Centre (GAMUT) and Associate Professor of Music Therapy at The Grieg Academy, University of Bergen, Norway. As a music therapist and child life specialist, she has extensive clinical experience with children and adults in intensive and long-term care medical settings. Claire has particular interest in exploring the ways in which music therapy may promote emotional-approach coping and buffer against traumatization in intensive medical contexts. She has conducted research and theoretical work in the area of music therapy as emotional-approach coping and as procedural support for invasive medical procedures. Current research includes evaluating the use of music therapy to improve quality of relation in preterm infant/parent interactions in order to promote optimal neurodevelopmental outcomes and improve parental psychological health. Along with colleagues at GAMUT, Claire is also researching the implementation of music therapy in substance use treatment settings in Norway, and she has published on the topic of music therapy and harm reduction. Claire has served on the editorial boards of the Journal of Music Therapy, Voices: A World Forum for Music Therapy, and Music Therapy Perspectives, and has authored journal articles and book chapters on various research methodologies and clinical approaches. She holds a Ph.D. in music education/music therapy with a minor in health psychology from the University of Kansas.

MTRB #14 – Felicity Baker

Felicity3Dr Felicity Baker is a former Australia Research Council Future Fellow (2011-2015) in the area of music therapy and working  on a study that aims to build a therapeutic model of songwriting across the lifespan. She is Founding Director of the International Research Network of Therapeutic Songwriting which has 32 members from 12 countries, and a professor of music therapy at the University of Melbourne.

Her clinical and research expertise are predominantly in neurorehabilitation with a special interest in communication rehabilitation and facilitating emotional adjustment to a changed identity via various music therapy methods.

Felicity is National President of The Australian Music Therapy Association, the national peak body for the discipline, and former editor of The Australian Journal of Music Therapy. She holds editorial board membership on The Journal of Music Therapy and the Nordic Journal of Music Therapy and has taught on international music therapy programs in Taiwan, USA, Germany, Denmark, Norway, and the United Kingdom.

Felicity was awarded a University of Queensland Foundation Excellence in Research Award (2008), an Australian Learning and Teaching Council Citation Award (2009), and an ADC Australian Leadership Award (2011).

Felicity has published widely with over 70 publications and is best known for her authored and edited texts: Music Therapy in Neurorehabilitation: A Clinician’s Manual. Jessica Kingsley Publishers (2006 with Jeanette Tamplin), Song Writing Methods, Techniques and Clinical Applications for Music Therapy Clinicians, Educators and Student (2005, with Tony Wigram), and Voicework in Music Therapy: Research and Practice (2011, with Sylka Uhlig).

Songwriting article by Baker, Silverman, & MacDonald.

Oscar Key Sung – New Weird Australia

Elizabeth Stegemöller_ISU_Headshot“Music is the medicine of the mind.” (John A. Logan) To date, little is known about the neural underpinnings of music and its therapeutic application. As a music therapist, Dr. Elizabeth Stegemöller has witnessed several intriguing experiences where patients with a neurological disorder have overcome a debilitating condition through music. It is these experiences that have motivated her research goals. Dr. Stegemöller earned her bachelor’s degrees in Music Therapy and Biology with a minor in Chemistry from the University of Missouri – Kansas City in 2001. Following her degrees, she worked as a clinical music therapist before returning to graduate school earning her doctoral degree in Neuroscience at Northwestern University in 2010. Following the completion of her graduate degree, Dr. Stegemöller completed a postdoctoral fellowship in the Department of Neurology and Department of Applied Physiology and Kinesiology at the University of Florida. She joined Iowa State University in 2013 as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Kinesiology. Dr. Stegemöller’s main research focus is to understand the neurophysiology associated with the therapeutic effect of music on axial impairments in persons with Parkinson’s disease. She currently has multiple projects examining the effects of music on speech, swallow, repetitive finger movements, and gait in persons with PD. Dr. Stegemöller has received funding and has over 25 publications in her young career. In addition, Dr. Stegemöller is highly active in the Parkinson’s Action Network advocating for Parkinson’s disease research. Dr. Stegemöller is very passionate about her work and hopes that through her research and advocacy effort, she can contribute to the development of new and innovated therapies that demonstrate effectiveness at targeting PD symptoms often not improved with medication.

MTRB #12 – Kenneth Aigen

Ken-Aigen-SmileKenneth Aigen is a music therapist whose clinical specialties include work with children and adolescents with emotional and developmental delays, and adults in mental health. His research uses musicological analyses to reveal connections between the elements of music and common cognitive, emotional, and physical goals in music therapy. He lectures internationally and has authored numerous publications on Nordoff-Robbins music therapy, pop music in music therapy, and qualitative research methodology. Two of his books, Paths of Development in Nordoff-Robbins Music Therapy and Music-Centered Music Therapy, have been translated into Japanese and Korean. Aigen is a past–president of the American Association for Music Therapy, a recipient of the Research and Publications Award from the American Music Therapy Association, and he was the scientific committee chairman for the Ninth World Congress of Music Therapy. His most recent book is The Study of Music Therapy: Core Issues and Concepts published by Routledge in December 2013. Aigen received his doctorate from New York University in 1991 and for 15 years he was the research director and then co-director of the NordoffRobbins Center for Music Therapy at NYU. From 2006 until returning to Steinhardt in 2013, Aigen was an associate professor in music therapy at Temple University where he received the Lindback Award for Distinguished Teaching. Music for this episode is “The Sidewalks of New York” by Matt LeGroulx.