Ep 55 Barbara Wheeler

Luke talked to Barbara Wheeler about her wide ranging experience
in music therapy as a researcher, clinician, educator, and
author.


Barbara L. Wheeler, PhD, MT-BC, holds the designation of
Professor Emeritus from Montclair State University, where she
taught from 1975-2000. She initiated the music therapy program at
the University of Louisville in 2000, retiring in 2011. She
presents and teaches in the U.S. and internationally. She has a
current faculty appointment at the Karol Szymanowski Academy of
Music, Katowice, Poland. She has been an active clinician
throughout her career and worked with a variety of clientele.
Barbara edited Music Therapy Handbook (2015); Music Therapy
Research: Quantitative and Qualitative Perspectives (1995); Music
Therapy Research (2nd Edition, 2005); is one of the editors
of Music Therapy Research (3rd Edition; 2016); and is coauthor of
Clinical Training Guide for the Student Music Therapist (1st
edition, 2005; 2nd edition, 2017). She is also the author of
numerous other articles and chapters. She is a past president of
the American Music Therapy Association and was Interview
Co-Editor for Voices: A World Forum for Music Therapy. Barbara
received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the World Federation
of Music Therapy in 2017 and a Lifetime Achievement Award from
the American Music Therapy Association in 2019.


In this interview they cover a wide range of topics, among them
the issue of the importance of randomised control trials in
building the evidence base for music therapy. the resources below
include reference to several of these, as well as other articles
referred to in this discussion.


The first two are examples of relatively small RCTs, done
by a single investigator or team, in one setting. There are many
examples of this type of RCT.


Ghetti, C. M. (2013). Effect of music therapy with
emotional-approach coping on preprocedural anxiety in cardiac
catheterization: A randomized controlled trial. Journal of Music
Therapy, 50(2), 93-122.


Chlan, L., Weinert, C., Heiderscheit, A., Tracy, M. F., Skaar,
D., Guttormson, J., & Savik, K. (2013). Effects of patient
directed music intervention on anxiety and sedative exposure in
critically ill patients receiving mechanical ventilatory support.
JAMA: Journal of the American Medical Association, 309(22),
2335-2344. doi:10.1001/jama.2013.5670


The next two are multi-site RCTs. 


Robb, S. L., Burns, D. S., Stegenga, K. A., Haut, P. R., Monahan,
P. O., Meza, J., ... & Haase, J. E. (2014). Randomized
clinical trial of therapeutic music video intervention for
resilience outcomes in adolescents/young adults undergoing
hematopoietic stem cell transplant: a report from the Children's
Oncology Group. Cancer, 120(6), 909-917.


Robb, S. L., Burns, D. S., Stegenga, K. A., Haut, P. R., Monahan,
P. O., Meza, J., …Haase, J. E. (2014). Randomized clinical trial
of therapeutic music video intervention for resilience outcomes
in adolescents/young adults undergoing hematopoietic stem cell
transplant: A report from the Children’s Oncology Group. Cancer,
120, 909–917. doi:10.1002/cncr.28355


The final two are Protocols for RCTs. These are large,
multi-site studies, not yet completed.


Ghetti, C., Bieleninik, Ł., Hysing, M., Kvestad, I., Assmus, J.,
Romeo, R., ... & Gold, C. (2019). Longitudinal Study of music
Therapy’s Effectiveness for Premature infants and their
caregivers (LongSTEP): protocol for an international randomised
trial. BMJ open, 9(8), e025062.


Baker, F. A., Bloska, J., Braat, S., Bukowska, A., Clark, I.,
Hsu, M. H., ... & Odell-Miller, H. (2019). HOMESIDE:
home-based family caregiver-delivered music and reading
interventions for people living with dementia: protocol of a
randomised controlled trial. BMJ open, 9(11),
e031332.Felicity Anne Baker


Additional references


Wheeler, B. L., & Baker, F. A. (2010). Influences of music
therapists’ worldviews on work in different countries. The
Arts in Psychotherapy, 37(3), 215-227.


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