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The Relationship Between Music Therapists' Spiritual Beliefs and Clinical Practice

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. / Music Therapy

Identiferoai:union.ndltd.org:TEMPLE/oai:scholarshare.temple.edu:20.500.12613/1561
Date January 2010
CreatorsKagin, Roberta Stewart
ContributorsDileo, Cheryl, Bruscia, Kenneth E., Brooks, Darlene M., Anderson, Christine L., Flanagan, Edward
PublisherTemple University. Libraries
Source SetsTemple University
LanguageEnglish
Detected LanguageEnglish
TypeThesis/Dissertation, Text
Format173 pages
RightsIN COPYRIGHT- This Rights Statement can be used for an Item that is in copyright. Using this statement implies that the organization making this Item available has determined that the Item is in copyright and either is the rights-holder, has obtained permission from the rights-holder(s) to make their Work(s) available, or makes the Item available under an exception or limitation to copyright (including Fair Use) that entitles it to make the Item available., http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/
Relationhttp://dx.doi.org/10.34944/dspace/1543, Theses and Dissertations

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