By Barbra Weidlein
Trauma settings
Music therapists have been called upon to support the recovery of individuals and communities following horrific events as well as natural disasters. Settings have included New York City metropolitan area after the 9/11 terrorist attacks; New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina; Umpqua Community College after a mass shooting on campus; various war- and post-war zones; and other disaster recovery situations.
According to the American Music Therapy Association, music therapy addresses trauma by providing:
• Non-verbal outlets for emotions associated with traumatic experiences
• Anxiety and stress reduction
• Positive changes in mood and emotional states
• Active and positive participant involvement in treatment
• Enhanced feelings of control, confidence, and empowerment
• Positive physiological changes, such as lower blood pressure, reduced heart rate, and relaxed muscle tension
“With individuals who have experienced trauma,” says Jim Borling, director of Radford University’s Music Therapy program, “music becomes an outlet for expressing emotion. Music therapy has a way of letting people know that it is ok to feel what you are feeling. It is ok to acknowledge what has happened.”
Borling brought his skills as a music therapist to Newtown, Connecticut where a 2012 shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School took the lives of 20 children and six staff members, and to Virginia Tech (Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University) after a campus shooting in 2007 killed 32 and injured many others.
Share This Post!
Post-traumatic Stress Disorder and Cancer
By American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a type of anxiety disorder. Some people develop PTSD after experiencing a frightening or life-threatening situation. PTSD is most [...]
Childhood Trauma Impacts Muscle Function in Later Life
By Morgan Sherburne – University of Michigan Adverse childhood experiences can detrimentally affect muscle function in older adults by impairing mitochondrial activity necessary for energy production. The study analyzed muscle biopsies from [...]
The True Link Between Early Trauma and Adult Mental Health
By David Rettew M.D., ABCs of Child Psychiatry The last decade of the 1990s was often labeled the “Decade of the Brain,” as many mental health clinicians and researchers emphasized biological [...]
What’s the Best Treatment for PTSD in Children?
By Joan Kaufman, PhD Joan Kaufman, PhD, of the Department of Psychiatry at Yale University, discusses the different stages of trauma-focused cognitive behavior therapy, or TF-CBT, the best evidence-based intervention for children who [...]
Expert Consensus Regarding Indicators of a Traumatic Reaction in Autistic Youth: A Delphi Survey
By Connor M Kerns, Diana L Robins, Paul T Shattuck, Craig J Newschaffer, & Steven J Berkowitz It has been suggested that the sequelae of trauma are under-recognized in youth on the autism spectrum. [...]
Helping Children and Adolescents Cope with Traumatic Events
By Southern California Sunrise Recovery Center Children and adolescents are exposed to a number of different traumatic events that can spark a lot of emotions and physical reactions. The effects of [...]