Creative Innovations in Mental Health & Addictions: A Guide to the 12- Steps in Practice (15 credits)

Presented by Nicole Edwards MT-BC

Working in addiction and mental health treatment can be challenging, especially when you’re trying to find music therapy resources designed specifically for the clients and treatment models you encounter every day.

When course instructor Nicole Edwards began working in this area, she discovered how limited the available music therapy research and practical resources could be. Like other music therapists working in addiction and mental health rehabilitation, she found herself searching for interventions that were clinically meaningful, supported client goals, and fit naturally within the treatment setting.

So she developed the kind of resource she wished she had.

In this practical course, you’ll explore music therapy protocols and interventions you can begin adapting for use with clients in addiction and mental health treatment. You’ll learn ways to connect music therapy experiences with common treatment goals and explore how music-based interventions can complement concepts found within 12-step programs.

Rather than leaving you to figure out how general music therapy techniques might translate to this specialized setting, this course gives you practical ideas, clinical context, and interventions you can bring back to your work.

In this workshop, you will learn:

Practical music therapy interventions for use in addiction and mental health treatment settings.
How to connect music therapy experiences with common client treatment goals.
Ways music therapy interventions can complement concepts and goals within 12-step programs.
How to adapt music therapy methods to the needs and challenges of clients in addiction recovery and mental health rehabilitation.
Clinical protocols and session ideas you can begin incorporating into your practice.
Strategies and resources to help you feel better equipped and supported when working in this specialized area of music therapy.

Course Description

I will give you protocols using the 12 steps as a model, that you can apply immediately with your clients. You will have resources to support you in your music therapy sessions with clients who struggle with addictions.

This course will provide you with tools that will not only strengthen your library of significant song repertoire, but will also provide ways to process songs, elicit responses, and connect group members through meaningful experiences.

As a result of doing this course, you will be able to cut down on the amount of time spent session planning as well as reduce overwhelm and burnout.

You can expect to review and ask questions about:

Specific music therapy interventions and how they pertain to each of the 12 steps.

Session plans to meet goal areas

Music suggestions

Lyric substitution/songwriting sheets with chords

Mindfulness meditations

Processing questions

Possible answers for processing

Subsequent journal sheets for self- reflection.

Each experience provides a framework for helping clients to witness, embody, and apply the spiritual principle(s) that pertain to a specific step of recovery. Although these were originally designed for group therapy, they may be adapted for various populations and individual therapy as well.

The songs and interventions selected for this self-study are ones both Nicole and her clients have identified as helpful to the process and as such, are meant as a starting point. Each clinician may use them as they pertain to the group, utilizing clinical judgment, and in no specific order.

Additionally, you may find that a particular experience Nicole has paired with a particular spiritual principle (like honesty, step one) may be more suited to address and teach a different spiritual principle (like gratitude, step twelve). Her hope is that you will take these and make them fully your own, exploring and adapting them to your clientele.

You will also be given a copy of the program manual which is included as part of your participation in this self-study!

Learning Objectives:

Explain how the 12 steps of NA/AA can serve as a model for structuring music therapy sessions
Describe at least 3 goals I can apply with this population
Create a repertoire of songs and interventions addressing goal areas
Implement and practice 6 interventions during this self-study program

Course Schedule:

In addition to attending the self – study course, you will receive a handbook with protocols in it so you have the interventions all in one easy to find location.. You will practice each of them with your clients and share your experiences with Nicole, so you receive immediate feedback about what works and doesn’t work from her experience as well as explore for yourself what achievements and challenges you face. In this way, you can support one another in this important and powerful work we do and not get as burnt out.

60 minutes Orientation Meeting webinar steps 1-2
90 minutes reading manual, putting protocols into practice, writing assignment
30 minutes webinar steps 3-4
90 minutes reading manual, putting protocols into practice, writing assignment
30 minutes webinar steps 5-6
90 minutes reading manual, putting protocols into practice, writing assignment
30 minutes webinar steps 7-8
90 minutes reading manual, putting protocols into practice, writing assignment
30 minutes webinar steps 9-10
90 minutes reading manual, putting protocols into practice, writing assignment
30 minutes webinar steps 11-12
90 minutes reading manual, putting protocols into practice, writing assignment

For each step:

1 Watch the video

2. Follow the session plan format in your manual and practice implementing the 2 experiences that were presented in each of the webinars with your therapy groups.

3. Answer the evaluation questions in your manual and discuss through e-mail

CBMT Domain Areas:

Domain II Treatment Planning: 2D-1 Collaboration with the client and/or family/care partner and other professionals for treatment planning (e.g., goals, treatment preferences); Task statement 27 Establish client goals and objectives within domains of health/wellness and determine an appropriate system for tracking client progress, outcomes, and exit criteria as needed

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

Domain III Implementation: 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); Task Statement 36 Engage the client in individualized music therapy experiences to address the client's established goals and objectives within multiple domains of health and well-being (e.g., psychosocial, physiological, spiritual, musical)

Creative Innovations in Mental Health & Addictions: A Guide to the 12- Steps in Practice is approved by the Certification Board for Music Therapists (CBMT) for 15 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