Barbara L. Wheeler

Changes in Self-Concept during Therapeutic Community Treatment: A Comparison of Male and Female Drug Abusers

Self-concepts of men and women in treatment in a therapeutic community were tested using the Tennessee Self-Concept Scale (TSCS). Testing occurred at four points, the first between three and six months after entering treatment, and again at approximately four month intervals. The 127 males and 42 females were part of the Daytop Miniversity project, in which the effect of enrollment as matriculated college students on self-concept was one area which was tested. Changes in the selfconcepts of men and women as measured by five empirically derived factors, plus the scales of the TSCS, are traced. Particularly striking are the negative selfconcepts of females preparing to leave treatment in the areas of acceptance by family, self, and peers. An awareness of these problem areas may suggest different treatment strategies for women as they near the end of treatment.

The use of paraverbal therapy in treating an abused child

The causes of child abuse appear in both the parent and the child, and in the interaction of the two. Psychological characteristics observed in abusive parents include low self-esteem, a desire to have the child satisfy the parent’s needs, unrealistic expectations of the child’s abilities, inappropriate reactions to child injuries, and a lack of knowledge about child care (Boume, 1979). Pianta (1984), drawing from results of a longitudinal study of 267 women considered at risk for child abuse, and their children, found that abusing mothers were of lower intelligence than nonabusing mothers and had negative reactions, expectations, and self-images. A characteristic of the child that increases the possibility of child abuse is a premature birth (Friedrich & Boriskin, 1976), which may add to the stress the parent experiences in caring for an infant, thus setting the stage for later abuse. In addition, certain personality characteristics of the child may increase the likelihood of child abuse, although these characteristics have yet to be identified in a consistent manner (Friedrich & Boriskin, 1976). Hawkins and Duncan (1985) analyzed 923 cases of child abuse and found chronic illness, emotional disturbance, hyperactivity, mental retardation, and other physical handicaps to be more common in the abused than in the nonabused children. Kazdin, Moser, Colbus, and Bell (1985) looked at the characteristics of children who had been abused and found that physically abused children had lower self-esteem and greater depression and negative expectations toward their failures than did children who were not abused. It is certainly not the case that any of the above characteristics by themselves inevitably and necessarily lead to child abuse. Wolfe (1985), who reviewed 20 studies comparing abusive and nonabusive parents, views child abuse as an interactive process involving both parental competence and situational demands. Pianta (1984) found that social stressors associated with child abuse included unemployment, lack of social support, stressful life events, and high levels of confusion. Helfer (1975) suggests that three conditions are required for child abuse to occur: a special kind of child, a crisis or series of crises, and the potential in the parent for abuse. Thus, the factors leading to child abuse are complex, just as is the treatment for it. Paraverbal therapy is a multisensory approach for working with children. This approach utilizes many avenues of communication, including auditory, visual, tactile, and kinesthetic. Paraverbal maneuvers involve the child in communication through rhythmic sounds, developmental movement, and touch (Heimlich, 1983). Many paraverbal therapy techniques use words and materials metaphorically. In metaphoric techniques, the chant or song used appears to be about something other than the client, while on another level it allows the client to communicate about emotions and events too threatening to deal with directly. Often, this is done through having the client improvise words to a familiar song either completely or at points where the therapist leaves spaces for the client to fill in words or phrases. Heimlich (1983) suggests that “after sensorimotor maneuvers have opened up com-

Musically Induced Emotions: Subjective Measures of Arousal and Valence

This study was designed to investigate whether US participants would experience the same emotions when listening to specific pieces of music as were labeled by participants in a previous study done in the Netherlands. It examined whether musical excerpts would fall into quadrants of serene, happy, agitated, and sad created by an interaction of the dimensions of arousal (calm-excited) and valence (unpleasant-pleasant) and whether the mean scores would fall within quadrant positions similar to those in the previous study. Participants heard 12 musical excerpts and responded by turning dials depicting different degrees of arousal and valence. After one of the pieces of music was reallocated to a different category, they experienced 3 of the 4 emotions as did earlier participants. Implications for the study of emotion in music and its use in music therapy and music medicine are discussed.

Music therapy practice: relative perspectives in evidence-based reviews

If a music therapist wanted to know the sum total of evidence published on the effectiveness of music therapy among persons with dementia, what would she find? Could she easily gain an overall understanding of (a) the quality of evidence and (b) the level of effectiveness of music therapy procedures among persons with dementia? A therapist who wanted to know the current state of the evidence might take one of several paths to getting this information. Indeed, these paths would lead to very different conclusions. And, the conclusions may be made at different times, using some short paths and some longer paths. If this therapist read ‘‘Is Music Therapy an Effective Intervention for Dementia? A Meta-Analytic Review of Literature’’ (Koger, Chapin, & Brotons, 1999), she would find that ‘‘the effect of music/music therapy was . . . highly significant’’ (p. 2). This meta-analysis included 21 empirical studies, with a total of 336 subjects, all of whom had symptoms of dementia. After reading this article, the music therapist would feel very positive about the effects of music therapy for people with dementia. Or the therapist might read ‘‘Sufficiency and Stability of Evidence for Public Health Interventions Using Cumulative Meta-Analysis’’ (Muellerleile & Mullen, 2006), in which the authors propose ‘‘performing new meta-analyses at successive points in time in a research domain’’ (p. 515) to provide information as to when there is sufficient evidence for the existence of the phenomenon, and when it becomes stable (p. 519). One of the meta-analyses that these authors use to illustrate their points is the one by Koger et al. (1999), described in the previous paragraph. Their analysis posits that sufficiency of studies in this area could have been achieved much earlier than the Koger et al. review. The authors’ simulation found that sufficiency or significance could have been identified after seven studies had

Perceived research relevance: A worldwide survey of music therapists

ABSTRACT Research has been and will continue to be important to the music therapy profession, as evidenced by the number of studies examining the evolution of research in the field. Despite its seeming importance, no recent studies have investigated the extent to which music therapists find research relevant to practice and very few studies have examined this topic outside of the United States. The purposes of this study were to (a) examine the extent to which music therapists around the world view research as relevant to clinical practice and (b) among those who read research, identify which sections from scientific papers are read. This nonexperimental study involved an online survey of music therapists from 51 countries. Of the 1586 initially responding to the participant invitation, 1272 music therapists completed the survey (a completion rate of 80%). Findings suggest that music therapists find research to be relevant to clinical practice and perceptions differ as a function of educational attainment and occupational role. Results also evidenced similar educational and occupational differences with regard to reading scientific papers. These findings parallel those from earlier studies indicating those with higher educational attainment and working in academic/research-related positions tend to find research more relevant. These findings are important because they suggest there may be a disconnection between the extant research and the end consumer, the clinician.

Perceived research relevance among music therapists: an international sample

Background: The relevance of research to music therapists has been a concern for decades. A number of surveys have indicated that music therapists do not find research to be relevant to their work. This research is intended to assess current attitudes towards research and its relevance to clinical practice.Objective: A recent survey addressed the following questions: (1) Does perceived research relevance vary by region of residence, educational attainment, time since training, time in the field, work setting or occupational role? (2) When research papers are reviewed by music therapists, which sections are commonly read and does it vary by region of residence, educational attainment, work setting or occupational role?Methods: Surveys were distributed to U.S. Board-Certified music therapists and music therapists in other countries. A total of 1261 complete survey responses were received, including 787 from the U.S. and 474 from other countries.Discussion: The relationship between the results of this study ...

First International Symposium on Music Therapy Training: A Retrospective Examination

Current and retrospective information on The First International Symposium on Music Therapy Training, held in Herdecke, Germany, in October 1978, is presented in this essay. The symposium brought music therapists and music therapy educators from around the world together to search for ways in which international cooperation in music therapy education could be beneficial. This was one of the earliest gatherings of music therapists from around the world and, in the view of some of the participants, an important precursor of later international cooperation in music therapy. Input was sought from the original participants, from their perspectives 23 years later, as to the impact of the symposium on them and on the development of music therapy in their countries. These recent views of participants, along with excerpts from a paper that was written about the symposium shortly after it occurred, are presented. Themes that emerged are also discussed.