The Influence of Music

The purpose of this course is to present music's therapeutic potential through biological, cultural, spiritual, scientific and personal perspectives. The therapeutic potential of specific musical elements and experiences is examined. Relationships between the brain, musical experiences and therapeutic interventions are presented in the context of current research, including remediation of traumatic brain injury through music therapy. Multicultural awareness is developed through an examination of cultural competence based on client case examples and through examining our own ethnocentrism. The presentation of the spiritual domain in this course includes a psycho-spiritual perspective, using clinical examples of intersections of music, spirituality, and beauty, and introduces transpersonal aspects of Helen Bonny's Guided Imagery and Music.