Inge Nygaard Pedersen

Music therapy in psychiatry today – do we need specialization based on the reduction of diagnosis-specific symptoms or on the overall development of patients’ resources? Or do we need both?

A growing specialization has been developed in psychiatric institutions indicating that staff members specialize in one diagnosis. Music therapists are on the one hand asked to formulate diagnosis-specific treatment models, while on the other hand music therapy is recognized to both provide quality of life and different resources across diagnoses. I think we need to be aware of these different expectations and identifications of our profession, and to find a way to practice, research, present and sell our profession in the area of psychiatry which is inclusive. I think we need to be both clinically specialized and both psychodynamic and existentially oriented in our contribution to psychiatric treatment. Cochrane reviews show that music therapy has a significant impact on reduction of negative symptoms for patients suffering from schizophrenia. The reasons for this positive treatment outcome are in the literature related to music therapists’ overall attitudes and relational competencies in their work which also provide quality of life and resources for these patients. This essay, which is based on my keynote presentation at the 7th Nordic Music Therapy Congress, in Jyväskylä, June 2012, discusses this dual nature of music therapy practice and research in psychiatry, primarily in Scandinavia. Ideas for building bridges between the two perspectives are offered and an excerpt from practice illustrates these integrative ideas.

Schizophrenia and personality disorder patients’ adherence to music therapy

Background: Music therapy is used in psychiatric treatment of severe psychiatric conditions such as schizophrenia, depression and personality disorder. Aim: To investigate adherence and predictors for adherence to music therapy treatment in patients diagnosed with schizophrenia or personality disorder. Method: Demographic, psychiatric and therapeutic data were collected for 27 patients receiving music therapy treatment over a 1-year observation period and a 1-year follow-up period. Predictors for adherence to music therapeutic treatment were determined by means of regression analysis. Results: Drop-out from treatment was low (11.5%) and none of the variables significantly predicted adherence. Lack of significance may be because of type 2 error. Conclusion: Patients with severe mental disorder may adhere to music therapy treatment.

Musikterapi med autistiske klientmålgrupper

Tre forskellige forskeres forstaelse af faenomenet autisme praesenteres. Det diskuteres hvilke konsekvenser de forskellige opfattelser har for mulighederne for anvendelse af musikterapi og for forstaelsen af musikterapeutens rolle og relation til den autistiske klient. Musikterapi med autistiske klienter er vaesensforskellig alt efter om du, som musikterapeut, identificerer dig selv som et objekt for modoverforing eller ikke. I min egen forstaelse af autismefaenomenet inddrager jeg teorier om den allertidligste udviklingsfase (0 – 1 maned) og overforer den voksende forstaelse for udviklingsmuligheder i den tidlige mor/barn kontakt til udviklingsmuligheder i et autistisk partnerskab i musikterapi Undervegs diskuterer jeg musikkens rolle og funktion.

Randomized Trial of a Group Music and Imagery Method (GrpMI) for Women with Fibromyalgia.

Background Fibromyalgia (FM) affects about 2-4% of the world population. Patients, mostly women, experience chronic widespread pain, fatigue, stiffness, sleep disturbances, and psychological disorders, especially depression and anxiety. Objective The aim of this study was to examine preliminary efficacy of a Group Music and Imagery (GrpMI) intervention, which included relaxation, music listening, and spontaneous imagery, to improve subjective psychological well-being, functional capacity and health, pain perception, anxiety, and depression in women with FM. Methods Fifty-six women aged 35 to 65 years (M = 51.3) diagnosed with FM were randomly assigned to either GrpMI treatment (n = 33) or control (n = 26) condition. Experimental group participants received 12 weekly GrpMI sessions, and control group participants who did not receive any additional service completed measures at the same time points as the experimental group. Results Intra-group analyses showed that GrpMI participants had a significant increase in psychological well-being and significant decrease in the impact of FM on functional capacity and health, pain perception, anxiety, and depression post-treatment, with sustained benefit at three-month follow-up for all variables except psychological well-being. Control group participants showed decreases in trait anxiety and depression at post-treatment, with no significant benefit at three-month follow-up. Inter-group analyses showed that compared with control participants, GRpMI participants had significantly higher scores for psychological well-being and lower-state anxiety post-treatment; however, no differences were observed between groups at three-month follow-up. Conclusions Findings offer preliminary evidence for the benefit of GrpMI to improve well-being and reduce anxiety in women with FM. Findings also suggest that GrpMI may help diminish pain intensity, state depression, and the impact of FM on functional capacity and health, but further studies are needed to establish efficacy.

Design challenges in a double-blinded RCT study of music therapy for people suffering from szhizophrenia with negative symptoms

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