Working with the Military

This weekend I attended the National Music Therapy Conference! First of all… It was amazing. I learned so much and heard from some great music therapists on many different areas of service.

One of my favorite sessions I attended was on Music Therapy with Active Military. The therapist gave a great presentation on the progress she’s had with her clients and showed data on some of the studies she had conducted. One thing I found really cool was the technology she used to monitor their vital signs called Inner Balance. The sensors are attached to their ears and monitors their heart rate and breathing variability. Through this, they were able to monitor the actual effect of the music on the person’s physiological signs and compare it to the perceived levels the client reported. For example, a client was asked to rate their perception of peace before the music intervention then again after the intervention. Their responses were then compared to the physiological symptoms—did their body physically and mentally relax? Just physically? Just mentally?

Whether or not the particular music interventions were successful with these clients was also interesting, but I thought the Inner Balance was just so neat because of the way it was affixed and the accuracy of the results. Go techonology!