Holding Grief with Music: Music Therapy Interventions and DBT Strategies for Grief, Loss, and Emotional Regulation (7CMTEs) (1 Ethics credit)

presented by Christina Zayas, DBT Informed MT-BC

This 6-week continuing education series explores how principles of Dialectical Behavior Therapy can be integrated into bereavement-focused music therapy practice to support emotional regulation, mindfulness, coping, and meaning-making after loss. Designed for music therapists and helping professionals, the course combines psychoeducation, experiential music-based interventions, clinical discussion, and practical application.

Participants will learn how to use music therapeutically to support clients experiencing grief related to death, perinatal loss, anticipatory grief, traumatic loss, and complex bereavement experiences. Topics include mindfulness, distress tolerance, emotion regulation, interpersonal effectiveness, validation, and continuing bonds, all explored through a music therapy lens.

Throughout the series, participants will engage in interventions such as lyric analysis, songwriting, guided music listening, grounding exercises, musical mindfulness, legacy work, and coping playlist development while also discussing ethical considerations, therapist self-awareness, and trauma-informed care.

The course aims to provide clinicians with practical tools they can immediately integrate into individual and group bereavement settings while deepening their understanding of grief through both relational and evidence-informed frameworks.

Outline of Class:

Week 1 — Grief + DBT Lens - 50 minutes total

Class (45 min) An introduction to bereavement through the framework of Dialectical Behavior

Therapy and music therapy. Participants will explore emotional dysregulation in grief, validation,

Wise Mind, and how music can create emotional safety, connection, and containment during the

grieving process.

HW (5 min) Participants write a short reflection on one way grief can show up as emotional

dysregulation and how music can help create safety or validation.

Week 2 — Mindfulness & Presence (50 min)

Class (45 min) This session focuses on mindfulness-based music therapy interventions that

help clients remain present with grief without becoming overwhelmed. Participants will explore

grounding techniques, sensory-based music experiences, breath and rhythm regulation, and

guided receptive music interventions.

HW (5 min) Participants try one simple music-based mindfulness exercise and briefly reflect on

what music they used, what they noticed emotionally or physically, and how they might adapt it

for a client.

Week 3 — Distress Tolerance (50 min)

Class (45 min) Participants will learn music-based approaches to support clients during periods

of intense grief, emotional flooding, anniversaries, and triggering experiences. The session

explores DBT distress tolerance skills alongside interventions such as coping playlists,

drumming, active music-making, and self-soothing through music.

(HW 5 min) Participants create a simple coping playlist with three songs: one grounding song,

one song for emotional release, and one song for comfort or hope. They briefly explain why they

chose each song.

Week 4 — Emotion Regulation (50 min)

Class (45 min) This session examines how music therapy can support clients in identifying,

expressing, and regulating grief-related emotions such as sadness, anger, guilt, numbness, and

anxiety. Participants will explore songwriting, improvisation, lyric analysis, and emotional

processing through structured musical experiences.

HW (5 min) Participants choose one grief-related emotion, such as sadness, anger, guilt,

numbness, or anxiety, and write one simple intervention idea using music to help a client

identify, express, or regulate that emotion.

Week 5 — Interpersonal Effectiveness & Grief Relationships (50 min)

Class (45 min) Participants will explore the relational impact of grief, including communication

challenges, isolation, changing family dynamics, and boundary setting after loss. Music therapy

interventions will focus on connection, validation, legacy work, and supportive group processing.

HW (5 min) Participants write a short reflection on how grief can affect communication,

boundaries, or relationships, and describe one music therapy intervention that could support

connection or expression.

Week 6 — Ethics & Cultural Responsiveness (50 min)

Class (45 min) This session explores ethical, cultural, and trauma-informed considerations in

bereavement-focused music therapy practice. Participants will examine Hispanic/Latino grief

experiences, spirituality, bilingual adaptations, perinatal loss support, emotional safety, scope of

practice, and therapist self-awareness while learning culturally responsive approaches to

music-based grief interventions.

HW (5 min) Participants choose one ethical or cultural consideration in bereavement music

therapy, such as scope of practice, trauma-informed care, spirituality, cultural grief rituals,

bilingual work, emotional safety, or therapist self-awareness, and write a short paragraph about

why it matters.

Final Assignment (50 min) Participants submit two simple bereavement music therapy session

plans and one short ethics reflection.

Learning Objectives:

Participants will identify at least three DBT-informed music therapy interventions that support emotional regulation, mindfulness, and coping in bereavement- focused care.
Participants will create one music-based grief intervention that incorporates clinical goals, therapeutic pacing, and appropriate adaptations for individual or group bereavement settings.
Participants will develop two bereavement- focused music therapy session plans that include goals, interventions, processing questions, and methods for supporting client emotional safety.
Participants will describe at least two ethical, cultural, or trauma informed considerations when providing music therapy services for clients experiencing grief, perinatal loss, traumatic loss, or complex

CBMT Domain Areas:

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

II.D.7 Goal-directed music and non-music experience/intervention design

II.D.4 Identification of treatment progress and outcomes (e.g., short-term measurable objectives, long-term goals)

V.B.2 Professional and ethical responsibilities

Holding Grief with Music: Music Therapy Interventions and DBT Strategies for Grief, Loss, and Emotional Regulation is approved by the Certification Board for Music Therapists (CBMT) for 7 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