SURVEY OF MUSIC THERAPISTS' NON-STANDARD PRIMARY INSTRUMENT USE IN CLINICAL WORK

Date

2018-04-11

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Abstract

The purpose of this study was to explore if and how board-certified music therapists are currently using their non-standard primary instruments (NSPI) in music therapy clinical settings, and to clarify details regarding NSPI use or lack of use in clinical work, such as barriers to use, goal areas addressed, and so on. This study employed a cross-sectional survey design to collect information from board-certified music therapists (MT-BC) during one point in time. The survey was sent to 7182 participants and data from 336 individuals whose primary instrument is a NSPI were included in the data analysis. Several findings were generated from this study. First, participants endorsed using NSPI with clients in the senior age group more frequently than with other age groups, and also endorsed using NSPI with clinical populations such as Alzheimer’s disease and dementia. Nursing homes and assisted livings were among the most common clinical settings where participants utilize their NSPI. The majority of people indicated that they “rarely or never” used their NSPI in clinical music therapy sessions during the previous12 months. The most often addressed goal areas addressed with NSPI use related to the emotional domain, followed by the social domain. Last but not least, most music therapists agreed that their music therapy education and training did not emphasize the use of their primary or principal instrument in clinical work.

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Keywords

Music therapy, Clinical training, Primary instrument, Clinical musicianship

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