QUESTIONS

1. (How) can beginning instrumental music education help students who have experienced
some kind of personal trauma? [​link here​]
2. Can music education be proactive in lessening the impact of personal trauma?

PROPOSAL
● RATIONALE: The topic of the connection between music education and the healing
process, specifically from emotional trauma, is meaningful to me because a few weeks ago
when I stumbled upon a trauma test (linked here) from a fellow music educator on Twitter,
I wondered what the link was between music education and coping with trauma. I myself
have been through several traumatic events in my life, and especially in the last five (or so)
years. The learners with whom I may engage are those who are considered at risk of
experiencing a traumatic event (hopefully made easier by the area in which I live) and those
who have experienced traumatic event(s). These learners can/will be those with an
instrumental music background and those without. Based on the area in Richmond where I
live, I think it would be a good idea to go into a school near my house and engage with the
learners there.
● RESEARCH QUESTION(s): How can instrumental music education help students who
have experienced some kind of personal trauma overcome said trauma? Can music
education (specifically instrumental music education) be proactive in lessening the impact of
personal trauma?

Article 1 (Walton, 2013)

APA Citation information:

Walton, E. (Director). (2013). Fly By Light [Video file]. Video Project. Retrieved September 19, 2019,
from Kanopy.

Purpose of the Study: ​Fly by Light is an intimate exploration of young people seeking to overcome the
violence in their lives and create a new path for their future by connecting to a world outside their
neighborhoods.

Methods and Participants: ​Four Washington, D. C. high school aged students (Mark, Asha, Martha, and
Corey) spend a week in rural West Virginia under the watchful and caring eyes of mentors through the
Fly By Light program. They sing and write music, they engage with one another and discuss their
traumatic upbringings. Their interactions with music and with one another encourages them to learn
techniques by which to overcome the abuse, violence, and neglect which they experienced growing up. It
also reveals their tendencies to bottle their feelings up, which in turn holds them back from healing. In
eight days, these students, being showered with love and support from their mentors, let their walls down
and begin to see that their lives can be so much more than they are presently. The film follows the
students home as well as they navigate how to live differently while still living in the same place. “The
film provides a window into the immense pain and challenges that many young people carry today, while
also showing their incredible capacity for transformation when given the support and tools to better
understand themselves and their potential, and to connect with others in a positive way.”

Key Findings: ​When students are shown affection and unwavering support, they are willing to let their
emotional walls down, which in turn may allow for healing to occur.
Discussion Points, Comments, and Questions: ​The most interesting thing about this film to me is how
differently each student’s life turned out, even if transitioning into “real life” at first was challenging. I
have always held a firm belief that if you choose to see the good in a student, that eventually they will
“warm up to you,” so to speak. Helping teenagers deal with abuse and neglect is certainly not easy for any
involved parties, but when we choose to see the light in others, they tend to show it to us.

Article 2 (Siapno, 2013)

APA Citation information:

Siapno, J. A. (2013). “A society with music is a society with hope”: musicians as survivor-visionaries in
postwar Timor Leste.​ South East Asia Research​, ​21​(3), 439. Retrieved from
https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&AuthType=cookie,ip,cpid,athens,shib&custi
d=s8863137&db=edb&AN=91517819&site=eds-live&scope=site

Purpose of the Study: ​This paper explores the concept of ‘speaking beyond trauma’ in societies
undergoing post-war reconstruction and recovery after decades of colonization and violence.

Methods and Participants: ​Musicians in postwar Timor-Leste participated in this study.

Key Findings: ​This study examines inequalities in the production of knowledge and the re-colonization
of knowledge economies dominated by wellfunded ‘experts’. It draws contrasts with the precarious lives
of underfunded local knowledge producers, especially musicians and artists, whose compositions
transcend methodological nationalisms. The focus of this paper is on the tactile aspect of practising and
playing music: perceived by, connected with, appealing to the sense of touch, producing the effect of
solidity. The paper examines how music can weave, repair, connect, disconnect and reconnect people and
affected communities of belonging in a society shattered by colonization, war and ongoing conflicts.

Article 3 (Rudstam, et al., 2017)

APA Citation information:

Rudstam, G., Elofsson, U., Søndergaard, H. P., Bonde, L. O., & Beck, B. D. (2017). Trauma-focused
group music and imagery with women suffering from PTSD/complex PTSD: A feasibility study.
Approaches: Mousikotherapeia & Eidikī Mousikī Paidagōgikī/Music Therapy & Special Music
Education, 9(2), 208–218. Retrieved from
https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&AuthType=cookie,ip,cpid,athens,shib&custid=s886
3137&db=rih&AN=A1246688&site=eds-live&scope=site

Purpose of the Study: ​Women who have been exposed to physical, psychological and/or sexual abuse,
often with a history of childhood abuse and neglect, frequently suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder
(PTSD) or complex post- traumatic stress disorder (CPTSD). However, the evidence-based treatments
recommended for this population help only 50%, so there is a need to investigate complementary
methods. In this study one such promising method has been explored: trauma-focused Group Music and
Imagery (GrpMI). In a non-randomized clinical setting the feasibility of GrpMI and the suitability of
chosen measurements were explored. Ten participants with PTSD/CPTSD were enrolled in the pilot
study, five in each group. All participants completed the treatment.
Methods and Participants: ​Ten participants with PTSD/CPTSD were enrolled in the pilot study; five in
each group.

Key Findings: ​The primary outcome was symptoms of PTSD measured at pre-, post- and follow-up. The
secondary outcomes were dissociation and quality of life. The results showed a decrease in PTSD and
dissociative symptoms, and an increase in quality of life following treatment. This tendency was
maintained at follow-up. An analysis of individual, semi-structured interviews with the participants after
the termination of the treatment showed that the participants found the group treatment helpful and
acceptable.

Discussion Points, Comments, and Questions: ​Since the findings indicate that trauma-focused GrpMI
has a positive effect on the psychological health of the women, a larger randomised controlled study is
needed.

Article 4 ​(Gutman, Vorhaus, Burrows, & Onions, 2018)

APA Citation information:​ Gutman, L. M., Vorhaus, J., Burrows, R., & Onions, C. (2018). A
longitudinal study of children’s outcomes in a residential special school. ​Journal of Social Work Practice,​
32​(4), 409-421. ​https://doi.org/10.1080/02650533.2018.1503162

Purpose of the Study: T​his study presents findings from a longitudinal study of the Mulberry Bush
School (MBS), a therapeutic residential special school in England which provides an integrated approach
to education and care for children aged between 5 and 13 years. Four cohorts were followed (23 = boys;
13 = girls), each for a consecutive 3-year period, approximating children’s time at the MBS. The
importance of these improvements stem from the fact that they were achieved in the face of the
exceptional disadvantages and challenges that characterise the lives of all children who attend the MBS.
This is testimony to their achievement, and to the potential of the residential special school as a
therapeutic learning environment.

Methods and Participants: ​Participants are children aged between 5 and 15 years.

Key Findings: ​“Children showed significant improvements in their socioemotional, behavioral, and
academic development. The picture is more mixed for children’s attachment representations, which might
be expected of the vulnerable and severely traumatized children who make up the MBS population.

Article 5 (Worden, 1998)

APA Citation information: ​Worden, M. C. (1998). The Effect of Music on Differences in Body
Movement of College Music Majors, Dance Majors, and Survivors of Sexual Abuse. ​Journal of Music
Therapy​, ​35​(4), 259. Retrieved from
https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&AuthType=cookie,ip,cpid,athens,shib&custid=s886
3137&db=edb&AN=61200826&site=eds-live&scope=site

Purpose of the Study: ​The purpose of this study was to determine whether there wouid be differences
between the mannerisms and body ianguage of the three subject groups: music majors (n = 23), dance
majors (n= 23), and victims of sexual abuse (n = 23).
Methods and Participants: T​hey then completed a self-report questionnaire pertaining to inhibition and
relaxation experienced in responding to the three pieces. The experimenter videotaped their movement,
and assessed specific movement patterns: how much of the body was used, how much tension the subject
showed, whether or not the response was Indirect or repeated patterns, and if the motions were of an
outward or inward nature. Three-way analyses of variance were run on the results of the questionnaire and
on movement characteristics.

Key Findings: ​Both the group of music students and sexual assault survivors appeared and claimed to
feel more relaxed and less inhibited while dancing and listening to classical music over reggae or jazz.
However, the group of dance majors reported feeling more relaxed while listening and dancing to jazz
music.

Discussion Points, Comments, and Questions: ​I think the difference in relaxation while listening to
different types of music.

Article 6: (Swart, 2013)

APA Citation Information: ​Swart, I. (2013). South African music learners and psychological trauma:
educational solutions to a societal dilemma. ​The Journal for Transdisciplinary Research in Southern
Africa, 9​(1), 113-13826 pages. doi:​https://doi.org/10.4102/td.v9i1.221

Purpose of the Study: ​Emotional trauma affects a large percentage of South Africa’s population. Music
teachers’ observations of how trauma influenced their students’ music-making, emotional expression,
memory and relational patterns, students’ observed recoveries from trauma, and the influence of the
teachers’ own experiences on their appraisal of students’ experiences are discussed. The article also
examines the advice of healthcare professionals to teachers and the latter’s legal responsibilities in terms
of reporting the abuse.

Methods and Participants: S​tudents from South Africa participated in this study.

Key Findings:

*Trauma (​ n.): the result of a painful event, physical or mental, causing immediate damage to the
body or shock to the mind. Psychological traumas include emotional shocks that have an enduring
effect on the personality, such as rejection, divorce, combat experiences, civilian catastrophes, and
racial or religious discrimination (Corsini, 2002)*