Basic Verbal Skills for Music Therapists

Basic verbal skills are necessary for effective and competent practice at every level of music therapy. This innovative new text provides a clear and practical foundation for understanding how words and verbalization can be used in a variety of ways in music therapy to meet the individual needs of each client across a range of settings. The focus is on giving music therapy students and young professionals a roadmap for deciding why, when, and how to use basic verbal skills in their work.  

Music therapy educators will find it particularly useful with its clear framework, clinical scenarios, and samples of word use that are directly tied to music therapy scope and level of practice. The book takes an inventive approach to understanding how to make informed clinical decisions on using words and gives examples and exercises within four different categories of verbalization - Verbal Framing, Verbal Exchanges, Verbal Interactions, and Verbal Interventions.  Chapters also look concisely at defining communication, reviewing current music therapy literature on verbal skills, and understanding how verbalization fits into scope of practice, ethical standards, and music therapy regulations. The final chapters examine the influence of music on words, and words on music. Each chapter also includes exercises to help readers reflect, increase word repertoire, and rehearse verbal skills.

CONTENTS

Introduction
Chapter 1: Communication, Music, and Verbal Expression 

• COMMUNICATION
• LANGUAGE
• MUSIC
• GESTURES AND PHYSICAL ACTIONS
• VERBAL EXPRESSION
• SPEECH

Chapter 2: Verbalization in Music Therapy Literature
Chapter 3: Words and Music in Music Therapy Scope of Practice
Chapter 4: Words in Music Therapy Levels of Practice
Chapter 5: Words and Music as Agents of Change
Chapter 6: Client Needs and Verbalization in Music Therapy
Chapter 7: Verbal Skills Basics for Music Therapists 

• WORDS, LANGUAGE, AND COGNITION
• LISTENING
• SOCIAL AND CULTURAL IDENTITY
• DETERMINING COMMUNICATIVE INTENT
• ETHICAL PRACTICE

Chapter 8: Verbal Framing 

• CREATING THE IMAGE
• INITIATING THE SPOKEN GREETING
• SETTING THE TONE
• DEFINING THE EXPERIENCE
• OUTLINING EXPECTATIONS
• ESTABLISHING BOUNDARIES
• GIVING DIRECTIONS
• SUMMARY

Chapter 9: Verbal Exchanges 

• ENTERING THE CLINICAL SPACE
• GATHERING INFORMATION
• CREATING THE CONTRACT
• DEFINING BOUNDARIES
• DECIDING ON ROLES
• SUMMARY

Chapter 10: Verbal Interactions 

• CREATING AND SUSTAINING THE THERAPEUTIC RELATIONSHIP
• EMPATHY
• RESPECT
• FINDING CONNECTIONS
• INTIMACY
• VALIDATING NEGATIVE PROJECTIONS
• SHARING MEANINGFUL INFORMATION ABOUT THE MUSIC EXPERIENCE
• COMMUNICATING SOCIAL AND EMOTIONAL CONTENT RELATED TO THE MUSIC
• FEEDBACK
• REFLECTION
• REPHRASING
• TRANSLATING COMMUNICATION OR RESPONSES
• SUMMARY

Chapter 11: Verbal Interventions 

• VERBAL INTERVENTION TECHNIQUES
• CONNECTING
• PROBING
• CLARIFYING
• INTERPRETING
• DISCLOSING
• CONFRONTING
• SUMMARIZING
• SUMMARY

Chapter 12: Understanding Words Through Music 

• PACING
• INFLECTION
• TIMBRE
• ARTICULATION
• STRUCTURE

Chapter 13: Understanding Music Through Words
Chapter 14: Final Words
References