From its inception in the early 1960's, Nordoff-Robbins Music Therapy has become a significant presence in the music therapy world, with hundreds of certified practitioners and six training/research centers worldwide. Researchers work closely with therapists in analyzing music therapy sessions to better understand the processes that make this work effective.
The research staff at our Center has pioneered the development and application of research methods to study creative and developmental processes in music therapy. This work has generated numerous scholarly publications and clinical training videotapes. Along with staff, doctoral and master's students in both the music therapy and applied psychology programs at NYU have undertaken a wide range of research projects based on the study of archived video recordings of clinical sessions.
The current focus of research at the Nordoff-Robbins Center is to examine the effects of Nordoff-Robbins music therapy on the communication and social interaction abilities of young children with developmental delays, particularly autism spectrum disorders (ASD). Given the increasing prevalence of ASD in the U.S., there is a particular need to investigate comprehensive developmental interventions for children with ASD. Communication and social interaction, which are among the core areas of difficulty in ASD, may be cultivated through the medium of music with its complex range of expressive qualities and dynamic form. Our research involves three major components: 1) Development of a manual and training protocol for the systematic implementation of Nordoff-Robbins music therapy in early childhood special education and early intervention settings; 2) Ongoing development and validation of observation instruments for studying children's communication and social interaction behaviors, and therapists' intervention strategies; and 3) Implementation of well-designed efficacy studies with large numbers of children across a variety of sites.
Volunteer research assistantships offer an invaluable opportunity for involvement in multiple facets of music therapy research. Research assistants participate in filming sessions, coding session videotapes using various observation instruments, administering developmental questionnaires to parents/caregivers of children at different points in the course of therapy, data entry and analysis, and writing articles and grant proposals. Hours are flexible. We hope you will be interested in pursuing a research assistantship here. For more information contact Adam Bell at adam.bell@nyu.edu
Despite its widespread practice and recognition, Nordoff-Robbins music therapy has yet to undergo the process of "manualization" for treatment of a target population. Our manualization project entails developing a curriculum and procedures for training music therapists to implement Nordoff-Robbins music therapy in therapeutic preschools, drawing upon the well-established advanced training program at the Center and the extensive body of publications by Nordoff-Robbins practitioners. Designing a curriculum that can be systematically implemented is an essential first step toward quantitatively investigating the effects of music therapy, and ultimately toward making evidence-based music therapy services widely available to young children with developmental delays.
We have outlined a proposal for a three-year project of manualization, to begin in the academic year 2010-2011. In the first year of the project, we will develop collaborative relationships with six preschools providing special education and early intervention services, and will conduct a needs assessment and program feasibility study. Senior members of the Nordoff-Robbins staff will begin providing music therapy at these schools. Preliminary versions of a curriculum and fidelity of implementation measure will be created through an iterative process involving review of existing case studies and training materials in Nordoff-Robbins music therapy, incorporation of treatment goals and program specifications generated by the needs assessment and feasibility study, and systematic observation of senior Nordoff-Robbins music therapists in the field. The curriculum will be organized in terms of goals and intervention strategies for developing children's communication and social interaction abilities at different stages of therapy.
In the second year, the curriculum and fidelity of implementation measure will be field tested with a group of music therapists who have no prior training in the Nordoff-Robbins method. This group will be trained to use the curriculum to provide music therapy at participating schools. They will receive ongoing supervision by the senior Nordoff-Robbins therapists, and their videotaped sessions will be monitored using the fidelity of implementation measure. The curriculum, fidelity measure, and training procedures will be revised during the second year on the basis of trainees' performance at different stages in the course of therapy in the field.
In the third and final year of the project, a new group of music therapists will be trained to implement the curriculum at participating schools, and will be monitored using the fidelity measure. Also during the third year, a pilot study will be conducted to investigate effects of the music therapy program on children's communication and social interaction skills, both in music therapy sessions and in the classroom. The curriculum, fidelity measure, and training procedures will be revised during the third year based on findings of the pilot study, and based on trainees' performance at different stages in the course of therapy.
Instrument Development
Music Therapy Communication and Social Interaction Scale
The Music Therapy Communication and Social Interaction scale (MTCSI-Hummel-Rossi et al., 2008) was developed by our interdisciplinary team of music therapists and applied psychologists over the past two academic years to measure children's communication and social interaction behaviors as observed during music therapy sessions. Sessions are videotaped and coded in one-minute intervals. Coded behaviors include instrument use, vocalization, movement, gesture, eye contact, facial expression, parallel play, joint attention, turn-taking, and other indicators of a child's response to or initiation of communication and interaction. The MTCSI has attained high inter-rater agreement among trained observers and strong support for its content validity. It is intended to be used by specialists in child development across various disciplines, including creative arts therapists, psychologists, educators, and speech, occupational, and physical therapists.
Therapist Intervention Strategy Assessment
In the manualization project described above, we will create an instrument to measure fidelity of implementation of the curriculum: the Therapist Intervention Strategy Assessment (TISA). This instrument will be divided into sections reflecting the specific content of curriculum sections. Over the three-year course of the project, the TISA will be progressively refined on the basis of detailed study of videotaped sessions conducted by senior therapists and trainees at participating preschools.
Selected coding categories of the MTCSI will be adapted for the TISA, with a focus on the particular intervention strategies employed by therapists to elicit and support children's communication and social interaction behaviors at different stages of therapy. For example, the TISA will include categories for therapist intervention strategies to promote turn-taking, reciprocal verbal communication, and reciprocal musical communication; these types of communicative and interactive behavior are described in detail in the MTCSI.
Past research on outcomes of music therapy for children with developmental delays has been dominated by case studies. The relatively few existing quantitative investigations have had small sample sizes, and have tended to focus on narrowly defined target behaviors, using prescriptive short-term behavioral interventions. There is thus a need for experimental studies of broader scope which examine in greater depth the effects of music therapy in such domains as communication and social interaction.
The Nordoff-Robbins Center received a Steinhardt Arts & Culture Award for an initial, small-scale pilot study during the 2007-2008 academic year, in which we explored the feasibility of carrying out quantitative research at the Center. We studied possible outcome measures, gained competency in administering the Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales, 2nd Ed. (Vineland-II) to the parents of children with ASD receiving services at the Center, and developed the MTCSI.
The following year, we collected field data for a pilot efficacy study at These Our Treasures School (TOTS), a therapeutic preschool in the southeast Bronx with a long-standing and highly regarded program of Nordoff-Robbins music therapy. Participants were 36 children, 2 through 5 years of age, diagnosed with ASD and other developmental disabilities. We employed a lagged cohort control group design, in which approximately half of the children received music therapy in the fall, and half in the spring. We administered the Vineland-II to both the parents and the teachers of children in the study at the beginning, middle, and end of the academic year. We also videotaped music therapy sessions at the beginning, middle, and end of each semester, and are in the process of coding each child's communication and social interaction behaviors during these sessions, using the MTCSI.
The study was intended to field-test the MTCSI, and ultimately to examine possible effects of Nordoff-Robbins music therapy on communication and social interaction as reflected in changes on both the Vineland-II and the MTCSI. The relationship between score profiles on the Vineland-II and the MTCSI will be examined as a potential source of support for the construct validity of the MTCSI.
Our continuing research partnership with TOTS and our newly established relationships with other early childhood special education and early intervention settings will form the basis for an ongoing multi-site collaborative study. Outcomes of this quantitative research will enhance clinical practice, and will augment the strong tradition of qualitative research in Nordoff-Robbins music therapy and the vast accumulation of parents' anecdotal reports regarding successful outcomes of their children's therapy.