The Relationship Between Music Therapists' Spiritual Beliefs and Clinical Practice
Genre
Thesis/DissertationDate
2010Author
Kagin, Roberta StewartAdvisor
Dileo, CherylCommittee member
Bruscia, Kenneth E.Brooks, Darlene M.
Anderson, Christine L.
Flanagan, Edward
Department
Music TherapySubject
Health Sciences, Rehabilitation and TherapySpirituality
Music
Clinical Practice and Spirituality
Ethics of Spirituality in Clinical Work
Music Therapists and Spirituality
Relationship/music Therapists and Spirituality
Spirituality in Music Therapy
Spirituality in the Music Therapy Clinic
Permanent link to this record
http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12613/1561Metadata
Show full item recordDOI
http://dx.doi.org/10.34944/dspace/1543Abstract
This study examined the relationship between music therapists' spiritual beliefs and their clinical practices. A survey was sent to 4243 members of the Certification Board for Music Therapy, using an electronic program, SurveyMonkey. There was a return rate of 32%. The survey contained two parts; Part I was the Music Therapy Questionnaire, and Part II was the Spiritual Involvement and Beliefs Scale (SIBS). Data were analyzed using a combination of Kruskal-Wallis Anova, Mann-Whitney U, and Spearman Rho correlation tests to analyze both the relationships as well as significant variations in responses between the survey questions and the SIBS scores. Research questions focused on the relationships between the music therapists' spirituality scores (SIBS) and their demographics, their reported spiritual beliefs and practices, and their clinical practices. Statistical analyses revealed significant differences in the relationship between SIBS scores and gender, age, and years of professional experience; however, there were no significant differences between SIBS scores and education level, regions of AMTA, or client populations served. Significant correlations were found between SIBS scores and music therapists' personal appraisal of their own spirituality, their use of music as a spiritual experience, the use of music in their own personal practice, and their belief in the importance of some type of contemplative experience in their own personal lives. Further statistical analyses also revealed significant correlations between music therapists' SIBS scores and the following clinical practices: 1) the role of spirituality as a sustaining force in their music therapy career, 2) their spiritual ideals as exemplified in their work, 3) attention to their own spirituality in their role as a music therapist, 4) their spiritual growth as a music therapist, 5) the classifying of their work as a spiritual endeavor, 6) their choice of music therapy as a profession. Additional positive correlations were found between music therapists' SIBS scores and the reported influence of spirituality on their choice of population, their comfort in addressing clients' spiritual needs when they are similar to their own, and their comfort in addressing clients' spiritual needs when they are different from their own.ADA compliance
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