• Journal of Music and Human Behavior
• /
• v.17 no.2
• /
• pp.101-117
• /
• 2020

This study aimed to investigate music and imagery (MI) experiences in group settings using a qualitative case study approach. For this purpose, a focus group interview was conducted with four professional music therapists, who participated in peer MI group sessions without a therapist. Data collected from the interview were analyzed by qualitative data analysis procedures. Results demonstrated that successful group music experiences in the early stages, such as sharing and selecting music together within the group or experiencing group support, leaded to developing trust towards music and the group in participants. Moreover, the trust built upon such basis was shown to facilitate expansions in emotional experiences, imageries, relational aspects, and music resources, which led to new personal insights. In addition, the participants recognized the supportive nature of the group played a role of encouraging participants to challenge new experiences during MI experiences. The results suggest that group as a therapeutic factor can promote expansive emotional experiences and insights. Furthermore, the findings may provide implications for music psychotherapy applications in group settings.

• Journal of Music and Human Behavior
• /
• v.6 no.2
• /
• pp.71-100
• /
• 2009

The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of group music therapy program on alineation of adolescents from enmeshed or disengaged families. The Family Adaptability and Cohesion Evaluation Scales III was administered to screen out subjects at a high school in Seoul. Based on the low scores, between 10 and 25, rated on the scale, 4 students were selected from 148 initial respondents. Subjects participated in group music therapy program for 7 weeks and a total of 14 music therapy sessions were provided for them. After the program, content analysis of the subjects' verbal and musical expressions observed during the program was conducted, with regard to the measures of the Student Alienation Scale. The results showed negative self-expression decreased while positive self-concepts increased. These results indicate that by providing the opportunity to experience group cohesiveness and group support, group music therapy program may effectively reduce alienation of adolescents from enmeshed or disengaged families.

• Journal of Music and Human Behavior
• /
• v.4 no.1
• /
• pp.1-20
• /
• 2007

Mothers of Children with Disabilities have many difficulties in parenting because of their children's disabilities. The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of a Group music psychotherapy programs on parenting stress and self efficacy, and to explore the experiences of the mothers who participated in the program. Twenty mothers of children with disabilities participated in this study. These twenty mothers were divided into 10 mothers of each group. The Experimental group participated in the Group music psychotherapy programs, while the control group did not. The Group music psychotherapy program was implemented for 8 weeks. To prove the effects of the program, pretest-posttest control group design was applied. The differences between pre-test and post-test of two groups were analyzed using independent t-test. The quantitative results of the study were as follows: First, a significant differences was found between the experimental group and control group in parenting stress level. Second, a significant differences was found between the experimental group and control group in self-efficacy level. From the qualitative analyses, four themes emerged from the decrement of parenting stress; Positive change of recognition about their children, Getting rid of stress, Keeping their composure, and Sharing of their emotions. And three themes emerged from the increment of self-efficacy; Discovery of oneself, New stimulus, and Mental support. All the result described above shows that group music psychotherapy program gives positive effect to decrease in parenting stress and also to increase in self-efficacy. And new possibility and effectiveness can be proposed in the music therapeutic approach to the parents of children with disabilities.

• Journal of Music and Human Behavior
• /
• v.17 no.2
• /
• pp.1-28
• /
• 2020

This case study aimed to investigate changes in adolescents' awareness of the motivation behind their excessive internet gaming after group music psychotherapy. Five middle school students participated in six 60-minute group sessions over 4 weeks. The group music psychotherapy program was developed to help participants understand their implicit reasons for excessive internet gaming. Verbal responses were obtained from pre-program and post-program interviews and original lyrics created by participants during program were collected for analysis. Obtained data were analyzed in terms of emotional and cognitive aspects in relation to the participants' awareness of the motivation behind their excessive gaming. The results showed that song writing as creative musical process allowed participants to be aware of positive and negative influence of gaming on themselves and express their motivation to change their perception on gaming behavior. Also, the participants reported that the use of musical product for their daily lives could be an effective coping strategy to manage their gaming behaviors and an alternative for gaming. The findings from this study support that group music psychotherapy can be an effective approach to promote awareness of adolescents' motives for excessive internet gaming and to help adolescents better manage their gaming behaviors.

• Journal of Music and Human Behavior
• /
• v.9 no.2
• /
• pp.1-17
• /
• 2012

The purpose of this study was to analyze data regarding the effects of group music therapy with adolescents. 27 master's, doctorial theses and published articles between 2000 and 2012 were selected for meta analysis. Subjects, independent variables, dependent variables, and the number of session were used to compare the effectiveness of group music therapy program. 49 effect sizes using means and standard deviation from 27 studies were calculated. The results were as follows. The overall mean effect size was -0.14, which is small size effect, according to Cohen's ES interpretation criteria. The mean ES was influenced by the subjects(adolescents/maladjustment students/addictive students/students in facility), the ES of adolescents was the biggest. However there were no significant difference among subjects. During the independent variables(active music therapy/receptive music therapy/combined music therapy), combined music therapy showed the biggest efficacy. When results were sorted by the dependent variables (social/emotional/behavior/cognitive category), the ES of behavioral category was the biggest. However, there was no significant difference among them. The ES of 11~15 session was the most effective.

• Journal of Music and Human Behavior
• /
• v.6 no.2
• /
• pp.25-41
• /
• 2009

The purpose of this case study is to examine how group rhythmic playing can help enhance imitation skills for 3 children with developmental disabilities aged between 30-50 months. The program was composed of social musical play, the therapist's imitating the way young children played musical instruments, and the young children's imitating the way the therapist played musical instruments. Every session was videotaped, and the researcher and two music therapists checked the videotaped sessions to ensure the reliability of findings. The case study demonstrated the following results. First, the three young children who participated in the playing of rhythmic musical instruments showed an increase in imitation behaviors. Second, the infants exhibited the greatest change from 1 beat imitation according to the degree of difficulty of group rhythm musical instrument demonstrated. Third, the most radical change in the infants' ability to imitate appeared in Sessions 3-7 where the therapist imitated the operation and a performance of the infant. In conclusion, the activity of playing rhythmic musical instruments in a group generated improvement in the imitation ability of young children with developmental disabilities.

• Journal of Music and Human Behavior
• /
• v.17 no.1
• /
• pp.1-24
• /
• 2020

The internship is essential for the music therapy curriculum and affords interns the opportunity to apply their classroom-based knowledge and skills to real-world clinical settings. However, challenges associated with the internship can result in interns undergoing trial-and-error learning, interpersonal conflicts, and intrapersonal difficulties. An experiential music therapy group may be useful in helping interns process these incidents and develop their personal and professional skills. We explored the experiences of music therapy interns participating in therapeutic song writing. In this study, five music interns completed two 4-hour sessions of therapeutic song writing. Following the second session, a group interview was conducted with participants to gather data on their experiences. The interview was recorded, transcribed, and analyzed. Six themes and 18 sub-themes were derived from the data. The six themes were preconceptions of therapeutic song writing, meaningful lyric creation, challenges in song composition, structured experiences during song writing process, development of self-awareness through music, and relational experiences resulting from the group process. Participants were able to incorporate their individual internship experiences into a single song by communicating with group members during the step-by-step process. Participation in therapeutic song writing was found to help music therapy interns identify and process challenges encountered during their internship and further their personal and professional development.

• Journal of Music and Human Behavior
• /
• v.11 no.2
• /
• pp.1-18
• /
• 2014

This study investigated the performance patterns in percussion improvisation of adolescents with behavior problems. A total of 40 middle school students participated in this study. Based on prescreening test results, the participants were assigned to either the impulsive tendency or depressive tendency groups. Both groups received two 45-minute group percussion improvisation. During the improvisation, all playing behaviors were recorded and analyzed in terms of rhythm pattern, instrument selection, intensity, and tempo of performance and performance duration. The results showed that while they were differences in improvised rhythm patterns between the two groups, the groups showed a similar tendencies in their instrument selection. With regard to performance parameters, the two groups showed significant difference in the tempo and duration of performance, but no significant difference was found in terms of intensity. This indicates that adolescents who exhibit behavior problems may be different in their playing patterns depending on their behavioral tendencies. Based on the results, music therapists can have a better understanding of how musical features expressed by this population relate to their inherent emotional and behavioral traits and how therapists should facilitate musical expression of these adolescents to address their needs.

• Journal of Music and Human Behavior
• /
• v.8 no.2
• /
• pp.65-75
• /
• 2011

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of vocal and instrumental background music on a verbal memorizing task. Participants were 30 undergraduate and graduate students and were randomly divided into two groups. All participants in both groups took a pretest and a posttest to examine the improvement of the memorization. Background music was inserted during the memorization task. Subjects in Group A listened to a vocal recording whereas Group B listened to the same music except with a cello playing the melody of the vocal part. All participants were asked to take the posttest to examine the improvement of their knowledge after the memorization. The t-test was used to compare the two groups. Results indicated that Group A(8.93) exhibited higher mean scores than Group B(7.46) but there were no significant differences t(28) = 1.38, p < .05. This study implies that lyrics does not distract word memorization and background music does not influence cognition directly.

• Journal of Music and Human Behavior
• /
• v.17 no.1
• /
• pp.97-125
• /
• 2020

This case study examined the effects of synchronization-based group music therapy for improving peer interaction of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The participants were five children between the ages of 6 and 10 with ASD. A total of eight 30-minute music therapy sessions were conducted two times a week. During sessions, target behaviors (i.e., engagement in joint action, synchronized movements, eye contact, and initiation of social interaction) were observed and analyzed. Also, the PIPPS-P was completed by parents to identify behavioral changes in real-life environments from pretest to posttest. Following the intervention, all of the participants showed increases in synchronized movements with peers and attempts to initiate social interaction. In addition, parents rated their children's play behavior as being improved in their everyday living environment. These results support that synchronous movements between children with ASD, which were facilitated with rhythmic cueing, led to enhanced engagement in joint action. Considering that those movements are the basis for further social skills (e.g., play behavior), this study also indicates that synchronization-based group music therapy could be an effective therapeutic approach for improving the peer interaction of this population.