Spring 2024 Music Therapy Conference
Trauma-Informed Receptive Music Therapy Techniques
Saturday, February 24, 2024; 12:30-2:30 p.m.
Presenter: Stephenie Sofield (she/her), MM, MT-BC
(2 CMTEs/LCATs CE credits)
The conference will offer three options to attend: in-person, virtual through Zoom and via a recording.
Speaker: Stephenie Sofield (she/her), MM, MT-BC is a music therapist serving child witnesses of intimate partner violence in southern NJ. Her research interests include child liberation, equitable trauma treatment, and feminist music therapy. Stephenie is an advanced trainee in BMGIM and an adjunct faculty member in the music therapy department at Molloy University.
Description: Music therapists utilize receptive music therapy techniques to meet a variety of needs and must make careful considerations for the selection of music for receptive experiences. Given that receptive experiences can promote emotional vulnerability for listeners and music selections vary in intensity and/or activation potential, it is imperative that music therapists consider a trauma-informed approach to the selection of music for receptive experiences, emphasizing collaboration, safety, regulation, and therapeutic context. This workshop combines the presenter’s clinical experiences supporting complexly traumatized individuals with her advanced training in the Bonny Method of Guided Imagery and Music (BMGIM) to provide a framework for the integration of trauma-informed care with receptive music techniques.
The presenter will begin by briefly defining trauma-informed care, based on Bath's Pillars of Trauma Informed Care and neurobiological research regarding complex trauma, emphasizing the need for a trauma-informed approach regardless of therapeutic context. The presenter will then emphasize the importance of defining and creating safety within therapeutic spaces intended for post-traumatic growth. The presenter will move into an exploration of basic properties of music (melody, harmony, timbre, texture, rhythm, dynamics, and lyrics), including considerations for grounding/supportive and activating potential, drawn from tenets of BMGIM. This portion will include music listening experientials and opportunities for brief individual processing through visual art or movement. Finally, the presenter will detail some considerations for trauma-informed verbal techniques, in particular, the verbal processing of receptive techniques.
Learning Objectives:
- Identify at least three considerations for the trauma-informed selection of music for receptive techniques (CBMT II.A.2.c.; CBMT II.A.5.a.; CBMT II.A.5.b)
- Identify at least two strategies for creating and maintaining safety during the use of receptive techniques. (CBMT II.B.2.; CBMT II.B.5)
- Describe how to integrate trauma-informed verbal skills for receptive techniques (CBMT II.A.2.c; CBMT II.a.5.t)
Continuing Education Credit:
If you attend in-person the conference will be held in the Larini Room of the Public Square (2nd floor) at Molloy's Rockville Centre campus located at 1000 Hempstead Avenue, Rockville Centre, New York 11571. Click here for directions to the campus and a campus map.
All participants will also be emailed the Zoom link with further information as we get closer to the conference date. The program will be recorded and you will have up to three weeks to watch the recorded workshop. The recording will be sent the Monday following the program.
Participants may choose to attend in-person, remotely through Zoom or via recording. The registration process is the same for all options.
Click here to register online. Register on-line 24/7. You will need a MasterCard, Discover or Visa charge card and an email address. To register by phone, please call 516-323-3550 with your MasterCard, Discover or Visa charge card. Confirmation of your registration will be sent to you upon receipt of your registration. You will receive the Zoom link to join the program via email within a week of the date of the program. Registration is limited. Registration the day of the conference cannot be guaranteed.
Refund Policy: A full refund will be granted as long as you contact us prior to the start date.
Tuition Rates:
Regular Registration until February 9: $25
Late Registration after February 9: $30
Molloy Full-Time Students, Faculty and Staff, (Please use your Molloy email address when registering): No Charge
Non-Molloy Students (provide your school email address when registering): $10
Molloy Alumni: $5
Questions regarding registration?
Email: conted@molloy.edu
Phone: 516.323.3550
The following are some links about our Music Therapy program that you may find interesting:
Video on Molloy's Graduate Music Therapy Program https://vimeo.com/90795256
Twitter Account for Molloy's Graduate Music Therapy Program https://twitter.com/MusicMolloy
Facebook Page for Molloy's Graduate Music Therapy Program https://www.facebook.com/Graduate-Music-Therapy-at-Molloy-College-101924705247/