Baselines in Music Therapy

An 'emergency' podcast recorded and released amidst the current events regarding proposed changes to music therapy funding and the NDIS in Australia.

We've just learnt that one of the key critiques of the NDIA, is that music therapists are not providing sufficient "clinical evidence" for their work. While some of this is likely coming from non-RMTs, acting fraudulently, the reports of all RMTs are clearly under examination.

To support RMTs to be giving sufficient clinical evidence, I speak to my OT friend Melissa Hale. Mel is a highly experienced OT and understands how to measure and set meaningful goals.

The standardised assessments mentioned in this podcast episode are:

Bruininks-Oseretsky Test of Motor Proficiency | Second Edition (BOT-2) https://www.pearsonassessments.com/store/usassessments/en/Store/Professional-Assessments/Motor-Sensory/Bruininks-Oseretsky-Test-of-Motor-Proficiency-%7C-Second-Edition/p/100000648.html

Sensory Integration and Praxis Tests https://paa.com.au/product/sipt/

Beery-Buktenica Developmental Test of Visual-Motor Integration https://www.pearsonassessments.com/store/usassessments/en/Store/Professional-Assessments/Motor-Sensory/Beery-Buktenica-Developmental-Test-of-Visual-Motor-Integration-%7C-Sixth-Edition/p/100000663.html

Ages & Stages Questionnaires®, Third Edition (ASQ®-3) https://agesandstages.com/products-pricing/asq3/

SCAN-3C: Test for Auditory Processing Disorders in Children https://www.pearsonclinical.com.au/store/auassessments/en/Store/Professional-Assessments/Speech-%26-Language/SCAN-3C%3A-Test-for-Auditory-Processing-Disorders-in-Children/p/P100010068.html

Sensory Profile 2 https://www.pearsonassessments.com/store/usassessments/en/Store/Professional-Assessments/Motor-Sensory/Sensory-Profile-2/p/100000822.html

Draw-a-Person test https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Draw-a-Person_test

Test of Everyday Attention https://www.pearsonclinical.com.au/store/auassessments/en/Store/Professional-Assessments/Behaviour/Attention-ADHD/Test-of-Everyday-Attention/p/P100010070.html

This episode is a condensed version of an online PD Joe ran on using standardised assessments in measurement and reporting for music therapy. 

Julie Bill is a Danish born art therapist who is currently working and living in Australia. Julie graduated in 2021 from Western Sydney University with a master degree in art therapy and has been working with children in clinical settings since 2023. Julie has also worked a year in Denmark, where she ran two community based art therapeutic groups for children. 

In this episode, Joe and Julie discuss a framework for implementing art materials in art therapy and the potential insights it provides music therapists on their own work.

Behiye (Be) Suren is an Australian born singer/songwriter. Her original fusion folk music (in English and Turkish) weaves the rhythms and melodies of her two homelands Sydney and Istanbul. 

Behiye’s artistic practice and her belief in the healing power of self-expression through singing and songwriting is summed up by a quote from Turkish folk musician Erkan Owur "Everybody should make music, every creature and every object has music inside it and everybody should search for their own." 

 This belief is what lead Be into the field of music therapy where she spent her studies focusing on mental and community health. Becoming an RMT has meant that she is now able to work in l school, community and council programs using self-expression through music as a tool to promote social/emotional well-being, cultural cohesion and a sense of identity and belonging in multicultural participants, including First Nations youth and refugees. 

 Be was a delegate for ‘diverse women in music’at the 2019 Australian Women in Music awards in Brisbane. She still performs at events such as Global Table, International Women’s Day festivals and cultural events. You can follow her music and find her social links through her website besuren.com.

 I invited Be on to talk about her involvement in a language reawakening project, centered around the town of Warren in the NSW central west. It’s a fascinating conversation about the role of music in relation to identity, peoples, language, culture and intergenerational trauma.

If you'd like to support the work of Warraan Widji Arts, you can do so at: https://www.warraanwidjiarts.org.au/

My interview as a guest on SurroundSounds. Listen to SurroundSounds on...

Apple Podcasts:
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/surroundsounds/id1705938397

Or YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/@APlaceToBe/videos

Today I speak with two UK-based music therapists about their journeys to Neurologic Music Therapy Services Of Arizona.

Emma Bailey is a UK-based Music Therapist and music therapy Supervisor. Originally trained at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, Emma has studied infant mental health and child development at the Tavistock Clinic and the School of Infant Mental Health in London, and she completed the additional NMT training in 2019. As a Music Therapist in a National Health Child Development Service, as well as in private practice, Emma specialises in short-term interventions with children with significant developmental needs, and their parents or caregivers. Emma has been published in the British Journal of Music Therapy and has presented her work at the European Music Therapy Conference (EMTC2022). In addition to her music therapy practice, Emma also runs developmental music groups for pre-school children and their families in her local community. 

Mary-Clare Fearn is an experienced clinician, trainer, and consultant within music therapy.  She qualified from Roehampton UK in 1990 and since then, her clinical experience has been varied, including work with young people and adults with learning and physical disabilities, autism, brain injuries and children that are looked after or adopted and their families.  Mary-Clare is an affiliate of the Academy of Neurologic Music Therapy and has expertise in blending approaches and supporting diverse groups of staff to develop their understanding and working practice, she is also a music therapy supervisor.  She plays and sings in local amateur musical ensembles. Mary-Clare writes about her work and has presented at national and international conferences.  Some notable publications are ‘Attachment theory and attachment difficulties: supporting autistic children and young people in residential school settings’ in Good Autism Practice, Volume 22, Number 2 (2021),‘Music and Attuned Movement Therapy’ in Collaboration and Assistance in Music Therapy Practice, London; Jessica Kingsley Publishers (2017), ‘Collaborative working at the Cheyne Day Centre, London’ in Integrated Team Working: Music Therapy as Part of Transdisciplinary and Collaborative Approaches, London; Jessica Kingsley Publishers (2008)

You can contact Emma at [email protected] or find her on X as @emmalisabailey 

You can contact Mary-Clare at [email protected]  

References for show notes:

• Fournier et al (2010) “Motor Coordination in Autism Spectrum Disorders: A Synthesis and Meta-Analysis” Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders 40:1227–1240 DOI 10.1007/s10803-010-0981-3 
• Donellan et al (2013) “Rethinking autism: implications of sensory and movement differences for understanding and support” Frontiers in Integrative Neuroscience  Vol. 6. Article 124 doi: 10.3389/fnint.2012.00124 
• Jansen & Thaut (2018) “Rethinking the role of music in the neurodevelopment of ASD” Music and Science Vol. 1 1-18. DOI: 10.1177/2059204318769639

Ingrid Gruett completed her Bachelor of Music degree from the Wheaton College Conservatory of Music, her Music Therapy Equivalency from St. Mary-of-the-Woods College, and her Master of Music Degree from Alverno College.  Ingrid is a board-certified music therapist, a Wisconsin Music Therapist-Registered and a Certified Dementia Practitioner who specializes in providing evidenced-based services and 1:1 support to persons with dementia and to their caregivers. Ingrid is the owner and director of Middleton Music Therapy Services, LLC.  

Her master’s thesis is a philosophical inquiry entitled, “Music Therapy Techniques for Dysregulation in Autistics Applied to Agitation with Late-Onset Alzheimer’s: A Case Study" which is the topic of our discussion today.

Joe Thompson is a Neurologic Music Therapist currently working at Spring Forward Family Centre in Penrith, NSW. He specialises in using the properties of music, especially rhythm, to support Autistic people to navigate their sensory and movement challenges. Much of his approach is informed by experiences he gained while working overseas at Neurologic Music Therapy Services Of Arizona in Phoenix, USA. 

As well as a clinician, Joe has served as past chair of the AMTA NSW branch, and creator and host of this podcast.

Suzanne Oliver is the founder and executive director of Neurologic Music Therapy Services Of Arizona - an NMT clinic based in Phoenix, AZ that has been serving the community there for over 40 years. Over the years, she has employed up to as many as 21 therapists at one time, and currently has 6 NMTs working in their clinical setting serving a variety of children and adults with neurologic impairments. Additionally, from 2007 thru 2019, NMTSA  had a school for non-speaking students with autism, providing them with grade level curriculum and communication and behavioral support at a 1:1 level. 

Suzanne is also the chair of the NMT Academy Advisory Council, and is Academy assistant faculty for the NMT International training institutes. She is considered one of the world’s leading clinicians in the field of NMT with developmental disabilities, and in particular Autism. 

Throughout her career she has impacted the lives of countless clients, families, NMTs, interns, mentees and other allied health clinicians.