Music Therapy for People with Mild Intellectual Disabilities (MID) and Stress-Related Problems

Introduction:Stress is one of the major factors negatively affecting ourhealth and there is a great demand for stress reduction interventions.People with MID are experiencing more often stress than peoplewithout intellectual disabilities.Music therapy often uses an experiential approach, therefore musictherapy can be a suitable intervention for stress reduction in People withMID. This presentation provides insight in the practice of the musictherapy for patients with MID.Methods:This qualitative study is characterized by the principles ofthe Grounded Theory and the Content Analysis. Three focus groupinterviews with trained music therapists, has been conducted in TheNetherlands, Belgium and Germany.The music therapists who were involved, applied music therapy topatients with MID within a clinical setting. Interview topics were relatedtohow and whenthe music therapists use music for stress reduction.Results:Results indicated that music therapists are often using thesame techniques and work forms.Building up and reducing the tempo of own-made music seems to bethe most important factor in the clinical work of the music therapist.Implications:Further exploration of the qualitative data will beshared and presented.Possible implications for practice will be discussed, and also thequestion how the psychologist/psychiatrist can refer clients with MID tothe music therapist.KeywordsMusic Therapy, Stress Reduction, Clinical Practice,Music Interventions