Mindfulness and Music in Clinical Practice (8 credits)

Presented by Katie Down MT-BC

Mindfulness can be a valuable clinical tool, but there’s a difference between understanding mindfulness and feeling confident enough to facilitate a mindfulness experience for your clients.

In this experiential course, you’ll learn practical ways to combine mindfulness practice with music and sound to support self-awareness and symptom management in individual, dyad, and group settings.

You’ll begin by exploring mindfulness techniques using musical drone instruments and deep listening experiences. Rather than simply watching demonstrations, you’ll practice creating and facilitating your own mindfulness experientials with sound so you can develop greater comfort using these techniques in your clinical work.

You’ll then have an opportunity to apply what you’ve learned by facilitating a brief mindfulness and music experience and reflecting on the process. You may submit either a 10-minute video of your work or a written narrative and receive individual feedback from the instructor, helping you strengthen your skills and think more intentionally about how you use mindfulness and sound.

The course also explores how to adapt these experiences for clinical practice, giving you practical ways to move from experiencing mindfulness yourself to confidently facilitating it with others.

In this workshop, you will learn:

Mindfulness techniques that can be incorporated into music therapy practice.
How to use musical drone instruments and sustained sound within mindfulness experiences.
How deep listening can be used to encourage awareness and present-moment attention.
Ways to combine music and mindfulness to support self-awareness and symptom management.
How to create and facilitate your own mindfulness experiential with sound.
Considerations for using mindfulness and music in individual, dyad, and group settings.
How to reflect on and strengthen your facilitation through experiential practice and instructor feedback.
Practical ways to integrate music-based mindfulness techniques into your clinical work.

Learning Objectives:

1) Participants will be able to employ at least 2 mindfulness techniques for symptom management

2) Participants will be able to identify 2 reasons for integrating musical drone in clinical work

3) Participants will practice mindfulness and music in dyads or groups

4) Participants will create a treatment plan using mindfulness and music

CBMT Domain areas

2B-2 Client assessment techniques (e.g., interview, observation); Task Statements 11-19

2B-5 Client responses to musical elements and non-musical treatment experiences (e.g., physical, behavioral, social)

2B-2 Client assessment techniques (e.g., interview, observation); Task Statement 16

Domain III: Task Statement 33 Utilize evidence-based techniques, including presence, authenticity, and respect, to establish and maintain trust and rapport with the client"

3A-3 Treatment modification within and across sessions based on the client's response and growth (e.g., alternate applications of music, appropriate music selection, adaptation of the physical/virtual session space)

3A-6 Theoretical frameworks for music therapy treatment implementation (e.g., educational, developmental, neurological, psychological)

3A-7 Music therapy methods used to support therapeutic outcomes (e.g., improvising, recreating, composing, listening, moving); 3A-10 Clinical adaptation of musicianship to address therapeutic needs

Domain I: 1B Identification of potential for harm within treatment (e.g., physical, psychological, interpersonal, spiritual, environmental); Task Statement 1 Recognize and respond to situations in which there are clear and present physical dangers to a client and/or others and comply with emergency procedures

1C Client-specific safety considerations (e.g., clinical disposition, diagnosis, active symptoms, trauma, medication use, physical and mental well-being)

Domain V: 5A-2 Self-assessment and identification of personal/professional skill development needs (e.g.,musicianship, leadership, therapeutic effectiveness)

Mindfulness and Music in Clinical Practice is approved by the Certification Board for Music Therapists (CBMT) for 8 CMTEs-Continuing Music Therapy Education credits.. The Spiegel Academy, CBMT Approved Provider #P-106, maintains responsibility for program quality and adherence to CBMT policies and criteria.

Class Description