Sounds of Sanctuary:
Trauma-Informed
Music Therapy
Matthew Phillips, LSW, MT-BC
Lauren Smith, MA, MT-BC
Bethany Children’s Home
Outline
• Part 1
– Introduction to Music Therapy
– Introduction to the Sanctuary Model
– Relationship between adolescents and music
• Part 2
– Music Therapy Psychoeducation groups
•
•
•
•
Safety
Emotion
Loss
Future
Community Meeting
How are you feeling?
(play it, then say it)
What is your goal for today?
Who will you ask for help with that
goal?
What is Music Therapy?
“Music therapy is a goal-directed process
in which the therapist helps the client to
improve, maintain, or restore a state of
well-being, using musical experiences
and the relationships that develop
through them as dynamic forces of
change.”
(Bruscia, 1987, In Bruscia, 1998)
What is Music Therapy?
Music
Therapist
Client
Why Use Music?
• Culturally-relevant
• Met with less resistance than strictly verbal
interventions
• Less threatening means of self-expression
• Flexible medium that can be adapted in the
moment
• Access to nonverbal, fragmented trauma
memories
Training of a Music Therapist
• Bachelor’s, Master’s or Doctoral
degree in music therapy
• Practica and Internship
• MT-BC – Music Therapist Board
Certified
Bethany Children’s Home
Types of Music Experiences
Listening
Composition
Re-creating
Improvisation
Listening Experiences
Definition
• Receptive musical experience
• Live or recorded musical example
• Help the listener establish personal
connections or points of discussion with
the lyrical or instrumental content
• Evokes emotional responses
• Supports an image-driven relaxation
experience
Listening Experiences
•
•
•
•
Goals
Establish personal connections with
lyrical or musical content
Identify points of discussion
Evoke and support emotional responses
Support an image-driven relaxation
experience
Re-Creating Experiences
Defined
• The client learns or performs a precomposed vocal or instrumental piece
– Performance - to share with others
– Non-performance
– Group Sessions
– Individual sessions
Re-Creating Experiences
Goals
• To develop appropriate social skills
• To improve attentiveness
• To develop leadership and teamwork skills
• To develop and utilize coping skills
• To increase self-esteem and self-expression
• To share talent and strengths with the BCH
community
• To create a shared and meaningful music
experience within the BCH community
Composition Experiences
Defined
Composition is a process that fosters
emotional awareness, cognitive
understanding and creative expression
through musical means such as lyric
writing, lyric substitution, instrument
playing and accompaniment
Composition Experiences
Goals
• To develop organizational and planning skills
• To promote self-responsibility
• To develop the ability to document and
communicate inner experiences
• To promote the exploration of therapeutic
themes through lyrics
• To develop the ability to integrate and
synthesize parts into whole
(Bruscia, 1998, pp. 119-120)
Composition Experiences
“My Journey”
Verse 1
Started out really early, young and so afraid
No one would have realized because attention I wasn’t paid
Stopped every dream I had, so I could play Mom and Dad
Everything I wanted was never what I had
Chorus
Sometimes it’s smarter to push your own way though
Because some things you need, may not be handed to you
I learned the hard way, trying to help everyone succeed
And at the end of the day I had no one to count on but me
Composition Experiences
Verse 2
“My Journey”
Then I found myself all alone, in a place so unreal
Seemed like what I ever felt was no longer what I could feel
I tried to hide my fear in a search for a way out
But when I reached for help is when I figured it out
Chorus
Sometimes it’s smarter to push your own way though
Because some things you need, may not be handed to you
I learned the hard way trying to help everyone succeed
And at the end of the day I had no one to count on but me
Composition Experiences
“My Journey”
Verse 3:
Now I’m in a better place and my dreams will soon come true
I learned from the mistakes and situations I’ve been through
I have myself to love, and that is how it will always be
It’s not hard to realize how much this place has changed me
Chorus:
Sometimes it’s smarter to push your own way though
Because some things you need, may not be handed to you
I learned the hard way trying to help everyone succeed
And at the end of the day I had no one to count on but me
Composition Experiences
“Trapped”
To all my people in the struggle
For all my people who feel trapped
Can’t get anything out
For all the hard times
All the long days
Can’t think of nothing
To free their soul
Composition Experiences
“Trapped”
Trapped in these walls and it feels like I can’t breath
Trapped in these walls and I can’t break free
All my anger grows up inside
I can never go to a place where I can just hide
Cause my heart beats faster and I start to sweat
I know I’m nowhere finished with this yet
Is it the motivation that wakes me up in the morning
Or is it the dedication that makes this not boring
Is it the hope that helps me find my way
Or is it the fear that I fear every day
Composition Experiences
“Trapped”
I feel like a new person
With every step that I make
I’m doing all these things
And I can never get a break
Trapped in these ways
And I can’t tell where I am
But maybe one day I can understand
Why I’ve been trapped for all these years
It gets me so mad
It almost brings me to tears
I’m living in a body, living in a world that’s fake
I have one way out
And it’s not yours to take
Improvisation Experiences
Defined
• Creating music in the moment in response
to individual feelings and/or a collective
group intention
– Nothing is written down
– No “mistakes”
– Percussion Instruments - fun and accessible
– Other Instruments
Improvisation Experiences
Goals
• To establish nonverbal communication
• Provide a fulfilling means of selfexpression and identity formation
• Explore various aspects of self in relation
to others
• Develop group skills
• Develop creativity, expressive freedom,
spontaneity and playfulness with various
degrees of structure
(Bruscia, 1998, p. 116)
Improvisation Experiences
What is Trauma?
An overwhelming event that causes intense
feelings of fear, helplessness or horror.
There are many different kinds of trauma
and not everyone responds the same way
to a traumatic event.
(Sanctuary Staff Training, Module 1)
What is Sanctuary?
• Trauma-informed model of care
• The shared language of S.E.L.F.
– Staff Training
– Psychoeducation Groups
• Seven Commitments
• Toolkit
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–
–
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Staff Training
Core Team
Red Flag Reviews
Psychoeducation Groups
A Change in Perspective
Sickness Model
“What’s wrong with you?”
vs.
Injury model
“What Happened to You?
Sanctuary Commitments
• Nonviolence
• Emotional Intelligence
• Social Learning
• Shared Governance
• Open Communication
• Social Responsibility
• Growth and Change
S.E.L.F.
Safety
Future
Emotion
Loss
S.E.L.F.
• A way of organizing complexity
• Dynamic and nonlinear
• Phases you move in and out of (not stages you
climb)
• An accessible language
• Gets everyone on the same page
• Applicable to children, adults, families, staff,
organizations
Adolescents and Music
“How does loud music calm him down?”
• Music is not a “universal language,” but it does
foster connectedness
• Iso Principal - Music first matches the mood and
slowly changes to shift to the desired mood
state (Safety Plan CD)
• Delayed gratification - release from the
discomfort comes only after fully being present
with the discomfort (Sad songs can ultimately
cheer you up)
Adolescents and Music
“Violent songs make violent kids”
• Music plays a reflective (not a causative)
role during adolescence
• Music functions as a window through to
the internal state of the teenager
• Music can be used to increase personal
understanding (“Lil’ Wayne is the only
one who gets me”)
(McFerren, 2010)
Intermission
• Where we’ve been: Foundations
• Music Therapy
• Sanctuary
• Adolescents and Music
• Where we’re going: MT Psychoeducation Groups
• Safety
• Emotion
• Loss
• Future
Safety
Physical
Psychological
Social
Moral
Safety
• Physical, Psychological, Social Moral
• Music is safe - teaches about safety and
provides a safe environment
• Popular songs address themes of safety
• Music provides a safe container and context
for the experience
• Youth begin with discussing safety issues in
the music, and gradually move to processing
personal experiences
Safety
“Welcome to My Life” by Simple Plan
• Lyric discussion and songwriting
experience
• Teaches the four domains of safety:
physical, psychological, social and moral
Safety
“Being in my Life” by BCH Youth
To be loved, to feel wanted
To be free in the world
To be glad when you’re sad
It feels like you’ve been in love
To be on the edge of everything and
strength is there to save you
Now you do know what it’s like
Being in my life
Safety
“Use It” Music Video
• Outside of Psychoeducation Groups
• Girl’s Cottage (Ages 15-19) worked with
houseparents, MT, SW, CTRS
• Chose music, wrote lyrics, recorded the song,
staged and filmed the video
Emotion Management
• Cultural instinct prompts
adolescents to listen to music
when experiencing distress
• Identify current means of
managing emotions and meet
the youth where they are
• Teach new means of managing
emotions
Emotion Management
Improvisation
• Group Improvisation
– Play emotions together
– Adjust the “volume” of
the emotion
• Solo Feelings
Improvisation
– Like a charades game,
using emotion cards
– Relate to community
meeting
Emotion Management
Music-Assisted Relaxation
• Music is a cue and a context for
progressive muscle relaxation and
guided imagery
• Relaxation is a learned skill
• Unique responses of each individual
• New Age music with minimal movement
is very holding
• Beware of classical music, as it will
always move the client somewhere else
Loss
• Loss is uncomfortable, but music can make it
safe to explore
– Time-ordered Structure
– Projective Tool
– Promotion of Universality
• Music can elicit complex responses
Loss
Re-enactment Triangle
Perpetrator
Victim
Rescuer
Loss
Autobiography in Five Short Chapters
• Sound Poem with
structured instrument
playing
• Underline colors indicate
when each instrument
plays
• Gives words a musical
(emotion) context
Future
• Themes of popular music - thinking
about future and working together to
make the world a better place
• Make change within the group and
generalize to experiences outside of
the group
Future
“The Kids” by B.o.B.
• Multi-layered lyric discussion and songwriting
•
•
•
•
experience that focuses on making a change
for a healthy future
Listen to the song and identify important
themes
Two-sided fill in the blank handout
“The Kids Don’t Stand a Chance”
“The Kids Do Stand a Chance”
Future
Adapted from “The Kids” by B.O.B.
Our boys and girls have choices
The streets are not their home
They’re filled with hopeful voices
Our kids do stand a chance
They’re free to choose their future
Inspired to live their dreams
They’re filled with expectations
Our kids to stand a chance
I said our kids do, our kids do stand,
Our kids do stand a chance
Future
“Man in the Mirror” by Michael Jackson
• Summer training for all staff
•
•
and youth
Staff and youth worked
together to rewrite lyrics based
on theme of “Growth and
Change”
Staff and youth reflecting on
the growth and change within
the campus community
Community Interventions
• Religious Services - choir, world music
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•
•
drumming, solos, small groups
Talent Shows and Coffee Houses
Occasional Community Performances
Special Events - Anniversary Day
Non-Music Therapists
• Know your strengths and limitations
• The non-therapist musician and the nonmusician therapist bring very different skill
sets
• Be aware of music’s capacity to elicit intense
response (particularly in relation to loss)
• Know your population and their unique
characteristics
• Extensive training is required to interpret
client musical responses
• It’s not music therapy without a qualified
music therapist
Final Thoughts
“Teenagers relate to music. Music plays an
important role in society. Musical engagement
can be health promoting. And most importantly,
music can be fun. Just show me a teenager who
doesn’t want to be happy.”
(McFerren, 2010, p. 74)