{"id":5618,"date":"2024-04-29T14:36:14","date_gmt":"2024-04-29T18:36:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/research\/?p=5618"},"modified":"2024-11-01T12:53:25","modified_gmt":"2024-11-01T16:53:25","slug":"beat-of-the-music-therapy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/momentum\/beat-of-the-music-therapy\/","title":{"rendered":"Beat of the Music (Therapy)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Beat of the Music (Therapy)<\/h1>

URI\u2018s O\u2018Malley embarking on research journey after years as clinical therapist<\/p><\/div><\/div>

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Written by Shaun Kirby \u201907, Photos by Beau Jones<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/section>\n\n\n

For the past 20 years, Nicole O\u2019Malley has traveled across Rhode Island to provide a unique yet important service: using music to treat patients with physical and cognitive challenges. The work is part of her effort to apply her clinical experiences to new research collaborations with peers in disciplines such as psychology and physical therapy.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Nicole O’Malley, Assistant Professor, Music<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

\u201cI have been in this position for five minutes, but my lab will be the first in the region that focuses on the neurobiological impact of music,\u201d says O\u2019Malley<\/a>, recently promoted to assistant professor at the University of Rhode Island (URI), and currently conducting research with fellow faculty member Christine Clarkin<\/a>, URI assistant professor of physical therapy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBecause we\u2019ve been clinicians for so long, we want to know the impact of our studies and how they can be disseminated to communities at large.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When people run, they often listen to music to keep their movement in time with the beat. Or they go to a concert and connect with a stranger over a favorite band\u2019s new song. In these situations, the brain releases neurotransmitters and adapts its neural networking system to improve cognitive, communicative, and sensorimotor capabilities, while strengthening social and emotional responses to the surrounding world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

O\u2019Malley has treated nearly every clinical condition possible, from elderly patients looking to regain motor skills after a stroke to children suffering from mental health issues after the death of a parent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Music, she says, is innate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhen you\u2019re relearning how to walk at 50, 60, 70 years old, all of a sudden you have to reacquire skills that don\u2019t come second nature anymore,\u201d says O\u2019Malley, who is also director of URI\u2019s music therapy program. \u201cWhat is the emotional impact? Will you learn to walk again if you\u2019re depressed?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Music feeds us, just listening to a song we like turns our reward circuits on, circuits that help with a lot of other skills.<\/blockquote>Nicole O’Malley<\/cite><\/div><\/section>\n\n\n

Recognized as a clinical profession since the 1950s when World War I and II veterans needed innovative treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), music therapy has evolved to incorporate culturally responsive practices based on patient choice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMusic feeds us,\u201d she says. \u201cJust listening to a song we like turns our reward circuits on, circuits that help with a lot of other skills.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

O\u2019Malley\u2019s work helps to not only treat individuals clinically, but also build community.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI don\u2019t just slap on a song and say, \u2018you\u2019re cured!\u2019\u201d she says. \u201cDriven by music preference and neuroscience, we work in a variety of settings, including aging. I had a client from Cambodia with whom we were working on strategies for emotional coping. She preferred Khmer music for relaxation, which is not music our ears are accustomed to in Western cultures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cKhmer was the style of music we needed to reach her goals.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n

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Recognized as a clinical profession since the 1950s when World War I and II veterans needed innovative treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), music therapy has evolved to incorporate culturally responsive practices based on patient choice.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Developing a strong base of practitioners in Rhode Island remains in the nascent stages, starting with legislation adopted in 2014 by Gov. Gina Raimondo, recognizing music therapists as official health professionals through the Rhode Island Department of Health. O\u2019Malley led the state\u2019s task force for writing that legislation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now, O\u2019Malley is working on publishing her first manuscript about assessing the impact of collaboration among physical and music therapy students through the URI Physical Therapy Department\u2019s Parkinson\u2019s Exercise Program (PEG) with Assistant Professor Clarkin. Led by physical therapy doctoral students, PEG is a community-based exercise program for Rhode Island residents diagnosed with the neurodegenerative disorder.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The research examines how these collaborations effectively support patients through combined physical and music-based treatment, as well as assess student attitudes and readiness to conduct interdisciplinary work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOur collaboration organically focused on problems we saw while in our clinical roles,\u201d O\u2019Malley explains. \u201cSupporting our students\u2019 need to learn interdisciplinary skills required for successful professional careers in our respective disciplines requires experience during their clinical rotations at URI and the hands-on experiential time to learn collaborative communication.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n

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\"O'Malley
URI’s Nicole O’Malley, Assistant Professor of Music and Director of the university’s Music Therapy program, is buoyed by the \u2018a-ha\u2019 moments her students share, and knows their contributions are crucial to improving evidence-based practices for music therapists in the future.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Clarkin adds, \u201cBy training our students early on, we embed the expectation that solutions come more readily when we work together as a team. Once they see the impact that their teamwork has on positive client\/patient outcomes, they are more open to continue to practice and adopt this mindset.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

O\u2019Malley says she is buoyed by the \u2018a-ha\u2019 moments her students share, and knows their contributions are crucial to improving evidence-based practices for music therapists in the future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere was one moment while observing the interprofessional collaboration last semester when my music therapy students jumped into helping a patient,\u201d she says. \u201cThe physical therapy students were like, \u2018wait, look what is happening!\u2019 They fed off each other.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Although finding ways to bring her research to already existing programs across campus is the ultimate goal for O\u2019Malley\u2019s newly established lab, she says she misses the rewarding experience of treating patients across the state with the neurobiological benefits of music therapy directly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhen I pushed my first client, who is still with our clinic today, too hard, she would say, \u2018You\u2019re fired, Ms. Nicole, you\u2019re fired,\u2019 says O\u2019Malley. \u201cShe struggled with certain tasks, but when I changed from speaking to singing my instruction, things would just click.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis work is intense and there are cases that stick with me, but when I\u2019m doing something like songwriting with a patient and seeing the connection to their mental and emotional health, those moments fill me up.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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