OCMT 2026

Elizabeth K. Schwartz MA, LCAT, MT-BC spent her music therapy clinical career working in early childhood music therapy and school-based music therapy practice. She frequently presents on music development, music centered practice and assessment, and use of the voice in music therapy. Elizabeth is the author of a number of articles, book chapters, and books…

In this presentation, the presenter will share about her music therapy work in long-term care and how, with a feminist psychotherapy lens in mind, she has developed two special projects to contribute to increasing visibility and amplifying voices of individuals living in long-term care. One project features the voices of residents as radio DJs, sharing…

Do you have a clinical project or experience you would like to share with the international music therapy community? Clinicians who publish in their areas of expertise educate peers so they can provide better care to clients. However, clinicians may consider scholarly writing and publishing out of reach. This brief session attempts to demystify scholarly…

Although we, as music therapists, work with individuals with disabilities, we commonly do not consider the ramifications if a member of the music therapy community has a disability themselves. Throughout the educational process in the United States (US), many students face ableist situations which impede their experience or may prevent them from full participation. To…

Worldwide, there is a growing population of children experiencing concurrent sensory, motor, and cognitive impairments. Practitioners often encounter challenges related to trust issues, heightened anxiety, and lack of motivation in these children. Drawing from my experience with the “Community of Families with Deafblind Individuals,” I have developed a contemporary methodology that utilizes music therapy to…

This presentation explores the role of dyadic (parent-child) music therapy in enhancing parental perceptions and mentalization processes. Sixteen parent-child dyads (children aged 4–6) participated in the study. The intervention group (n=8) engaged in 12 sessions of dyadic music therapy, while the control group (n=8) received no therapeutic intervention during the same period. Parental representations were…

Refugees and asylum seekers are in a particular vulnerable time of their lives and are in high risk of developing psychological and/ or psychiatric disorders (Papadopoulos & Shea, 2018). According to the World Health Organization (WHO), global evidence indicates that creative arts and music activities are beneficial for their health and wellbeing. Still, access is…

As part of this preesnter’s PhD research, she conducted an online survey to gather the opinions, thoughts and feelings of Autistic adults about music therapy practice. The survey was open to all English-speaking Autistic people, whether they had received music therapy previously or not, as well as Autistic music therapists.  Although music therapists often work…

Neurologic Music Therapists are increasingly being integrated within Multi-Disciplinary Teams (MDTs), particularly within the area of neuro-rehabilitation. This integrated approach is common in work globally, and this presentation explores the current theoretical approaches to MDT working. It also explores the current research base that highlights the experiences of Music Therapists working within such teams globally….

This presentation offers an autoethnographic exploration of a Palestinian music therapist’s journey through war, displacement, and grief, and the impact of these experiences on clinical identity and practice. Relocating from Jaffa to Europe during a time of escalating violence, the therapist reflects on the interplay between personal trauma, cultural rupture, and professional adaptation. Through lived…

Cultural humility and responsiveness need to be at the heart of our praxis as music therapists to ensure we are respecting where individuals are from and actively seeking to accommodate our approach to the client’s cultural contexts, needs, and values.  By initiating and inviting conversations about cultural diversity and identity into supervision we can further…

Viggo Krüger has over 25 years of experience in the field of music therapy, serving as both a research leader and professor at the Grieg Academy Music Therapy Research Centre at the University of Bergen, as well as at NORCE (Norwegian Research Centre). His dual roles in academia and research position him as a key…

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) reports that the global population of forcibly displaced persons currently stands at 123.2 million at the end of 2024. Forced displacement occurs when people are compelled to leave their homeland for reasons including conflict, oppression, economic and natural crises. It brings with it a range of challenges…

The connection between an individual’s mental state and the timbre of their voice is a well-established concept, often utilized intuitively by music therapists. However, this area remains underexplored from a scientific perspective. In this presentation, we will examine patterns of vocal habits through the client’s vocal apparatus and emphasize their application within music therapy and…

Music Performance Anxiety (MPA) is an experience of the nervous system being overwhelmed in an evaluative or performance-based situation. While music therapists are not performers, the work we do relies on performance skills. Some research has cited that as a whole, musicians score higher on anxiety measures than the general population which puts musicians at…

Individuals with Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) often report feeling emotionally numb and having difficulty accessing positive emotional states. This case study illustrates the Guided Imagery and Music (GIM) process with a 55-year-old Army Veteran experiencing PTSD following his deployment, highlighting the importance of deeply positive experiences in the healing of trauma and the power of…

This presentation will include a definition about what The Neuroexperiential Model (NEM) is and some information about how it was developed and how it can relate to Music Therapy. Information about the cutting-edge trauma treatment of Brainspotting will be shared and the possibilities for Music Therapists to become certified in this treatment and how Music…

In this presentation, music therapists will hear case examples of the use of live heartbeat sounds through a Bluetooth stethoscope entrained with live music to address self-regulation, self-esteem, and resilience. Offering an overview of emerging neuroscience research on the brain-body equilibrium, the session will cover how music supports interoception and self-awareness in ways that can…