Trauma Treatment by Beethoven and Beyoncé: Incorporating Music as a Tool for Engagement in Evidence-Based Treatments for Child Trauma – Recording

For delegates on. This recording will be removed on Thursday 2 May 2024.

The webinar was led by Assistant Professor Dr. Jessica Wozniak and Associate Professor Dr. Jessica L. Griffin, both University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School, who presented a brief overview of research on music and neurobiology and health outcomes, including mental health.

Slides

About the webinar

Plato stated that ‘Music gives a soul to the universe wings to the mind flight to the imagination and life to everything’. The presentation will include a brief overview of research on music and neurobiology and health outcomes, including mental health. Neurobiological responses include lower arousal, and the regulation of stress responses, and allows access to higher level thinking executive thinking, and can improve focus and creativity. Music can play a role in therapeutic work with anger, anxiety and mood regulation and trauma processing, promoting relaxation and mindfulness, emotional regulation, and meaning making. The integration of music can promote group cohesion processes, empathy and connectiveness.

The presentation will explore the role of music as a tool for engagement in evidence -based trauma treatments particularly when young people have complex trauma histories or are avoidant or disengaged. A variety of music – from Beethoven to Beyonce can promote successful engagement, trauma processing and therapeutic change.

About the Speakers

Assistant Professor Dr. Jessica Wozniak, PsyD is a clinical psychologist and the Clinical Research and Development Manager at Baystate Medical Center’s Department of Psychiatry in Springfield, MA, and an Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Massachusetts Medical School-Baystate (UMMS). In her role she oversees community-based projects, clinical research, and training including oversight of all projects funded by SAMHSA/NCTSN. She is the Director of the Child Advocacy Training and Support Center, a national training and consultation center for Children’s Advocacy Centers.  Additionally, Dr. Wozniak oversaw the development of the One Mission Project which provides coordinated services to child trafficking victims. She is also a leader of the Hampden County Coalition to Identify and Prevent the Sexual Exploitation of Children. Dr. Wozniak is a nationally recognized trainer in Trauma-Focused Cognitive-Behavioural Therapy, the most rigorously tested treatment for trauma in children. Additionally, she conducts trainings for community organizations as well as presenting at national and international conferences on topics related to trauma informed practices, vicarious trauma, trauma-informed multidisciplinary teams and sexual exploitation of children.

Associate Professor Dr. Jessica L. Griffin, is an Associate Professor of Psychiatry and Pediatrics at the University of Massachusetts Medical School (UMMS), where she has been a faculty member since 2006.  Dr. Griffin is an internationally known relationship expert, sought after public speaker, and national expert in Trauma-Focused Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (TF-CBT), trauma, and relationships. She has trained and provided consultation for thousands of clinicians and therapists across the United States and has led wide-scale TF-CBT dissemination efforts and pilot projects, informed by implementation science and focused on multiple settings and populations (e.g., in-home therapy, court-involved youth, transition-age youth). With funding from SAMHSA/NCTSN in 2012, as Principal Investigator and Executive Director, she developed the UMMS Child Trauma Training Center, with a focus on training, treatment, and resolving access issues youth who have experienced trauma. Within this initiative, Dr. Griffin created and piloted a highly innovative centralized referral system, LINK-KID, targeted at decreasing wait-times for youth and families to trauma-focused evidence-based treatments.  Due to LINK-KID’s early successes, she and her team expanded LINK-KID to what is now a statewide capacity, serving trauma victims throughout the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. To date, under her direction, the center has trained over 200,000 professionals in trauma-informed care and trauma-responsive practices and successfully referred over 7000 youth into evidence-based treatment models. In 2020, Dr. Griffin was awarded a multi-year, multi-million dollar grant to develop the national Resilience through Relationships Center, housed at the University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School. In 2021, Dr. Griffin became the Executive Director of Lifeline For Kids within the division of Lifeline For Families in the Department of Psychiatry.

Dr. Griffin is a clinical and forensic psychologist with a specialty in trauma and relationships.  She has extensive expertise in childhood maltreatment, attachment and relationships, psychological evaluation, and divorce and custody matters. She presents regularly at local, national and international level on topics related to childhood trauma, relationships, TF-CBT, and forensic evaluation of children and families and has published journal articles and book chapters on a variety of topics related to trauma and relationships.  She is a co-author of a book by the American Academy of Pediatrics, Childhood Trauma and Resilience, A Practical Guide, a go-to resource on childhood trauma for pediatrics. Recently, Dr. Griffin also authored a book for couples, Relationship Rx: Prescriptions for Lasting Love and Deeper Connection (Rowan and Littlefield Press, for release in February 2023) which addresses common problems plaguing couples with evidence-based, science-backed techniques and exercises to solve them.