Helen Odell-Miller OBE is a researcher and clinician in music therapy. She is Professor of Music Therapy and Director of the Cambridge Institute for Music Therapy Research (CIMTR) at Anglia Ruskin University in Cambridge, United Kingdom.
Odell-Miller is originally from London, UK. The daughter of two medical doctors, Ruth and John Odell, she entered Nottingham University in 1973 to study music . [1] Whilst at Nottingham, her musician teacher sister Jill was studying music in another university, and discovered literature on music therapy which inspired Odell-Miller. Later, while playing in Williams’ orchestra, The Apollo Symphony Orchestra in Oxford, Odell-Miller met Jenny Wigram, wife of the late pioneer of music therapy, Tony Wigram. Wigram had completed his music therapy training with Juliette Alvin at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, which led to Odell-Miller applying for music therapy training. [2] Following completion of her BA Hons in music in 1976 at Nottingham University, she began her post-graduate diploma in music therapy at Guildhall School of Music at the age of 21. [3] Odell-Miller completed her first clinical placement with Juliette Alvin at St. Charles’ Hospital in West London, on a surgical ward with men with physical disabilities from amputations. [4]
Odell-Miller married Michael Miller, a psychotherapist, in 1981, meeting him at Fulbourn Hospital when she was setting music therapy up there. They have two children.
Following completion of her post-graduate diploma in 1977, Odell-Miller began working in a new full time post at St Ida Darwin Hospital, near Cambridge, setting up a new music therapy service for adults and children with learning disabilities. Her clinical practice mainly involved group work, following an active and multidisciplinary approach in working with physiotherapists, nurses and occupational therapists. Here she developed an interest in research under the supervision of Malcolm Adams, investigating priorities for music therapy services by gathering data from the staff team in 1978-79. [4]
Through her involvement with the organisation SCOPE, a community of creative arts therapies advocates, Odell-Miller came to develop and defend music therapy and its autonomous position as a psychological therapy. This led to the creation of a full-time music therapy post at Fulbourn Hospital in 1980. [4] She subsequently developed four new music therapy posts and the first music therapy post in Cambridge in Child and Family. She continued to work in adult mental health and family psychiatry, pioneering links between psychotherapy and psychoanalytic theory, and music therapy in particular. [4] During these posts she developed improvisational approaches in music therapy practice. She was especially interested in navigating through the balance between talking and playing with a music therapy session. [5]
Odell-Miller, along with her colleagues Tony Wigram and Leslie Bunt, was instrumental to early development of the music therapy profession in the UK, negotiating with the government and achieving professional recognition for music therapists. [5] She was involved in the establishment of the Courses Liaison Committee for the Association of Professional Music Therapists, as well as the training standards for the Council for Professions Supplementary to Medicine Arts Therapists’ Board, [4] served as the advisor to the Department of Health for music therapy for 11 years, and took a lead role in the documentation for the Health Professions Council (now known as the HCPC) for Standards of Practice and Standards of Education for Arts Therapists. [5]
Once the profession had gained greater recognition, she advocated for the switch from Postgraduate Diploma to MA level training to practice as a music therapist, thereby aligning the UK with European curriculums. In 2016 she was awarded Officer of the British Empire (OBE) for her services to music therapy. [1]
Odell-Miller has been affiliated with Anglia Ruskin University since 1994 when she co-founded the MA Music Therapy training at then Anglia Polytechnic, with Amelia Oldfield. Since then she has continued to teach and supervise students on the MA Music Therapy and achieving professorship in Music Therapy in 2008. She has supervised twelve PhDs to completion, and is currently supervising twelve PhD students in music therapy and dramatherapy. [6] She set up the music therapy clinic at the Jerome Booth Music Therapy Centre in 2007, which is also now used for music therapy training. The clinic is also used for music therapy sessions by freelance and private music therapists. [7]
Odell-Miller set up the Cambridge Institute for Music Therapy Research (CIMTR) in 2017 with colleagues, including Prof Jörg Fachner. CIMTR is a research institute based at Anglia Ruskin University, aiming to impact policy and practice by "advancing understandings of music therapy and its ability to effect positive change in health and human wellbeing." [8] CIMTR is directed by Odell-Miller and co-directed by Jörg Fachner, Professor of Music, Health and the Brain. [9] It focuses on five major music therapy areas: healthy ageing and dementia; children, young people, and families; mental health; neurorehabilitation and stroke; neuroscience of music therapy. [9]
Odell-Miller's early work in mental health and psychiatry led to the completion of an MPhil at City University, where she worked with psychotherapists and psychiatrists to develop some of the psychodynamic theories that now inform music therapy practice. [10] Her research led to further exploration of the client''s relationship with music, specifically improvisation and how these findings contributed to the approaches music therapists were using in practice. Her MPhil examining music therapy and dementia was completed in 1989. In 2008 she completed her PhD at the University of Aalborg, with a thesis "The Practice of Music Therapy for Adults with Mental Health Problems: the Relationship Between Diagnosis and Clinical Method", a mixed methods study using qualitative phenomenological methodologies (IPA) and statistical quantitative methodologies. [11] She has recently been involved in developing the Music and Dementia Strategy in the UK, produced by the International Longevity Centre. [12]
Odell-Miller is principal investigator of the Homeside randomised controlled trial in the UK. [13] Prior to managing the UK team, she was involved in the original research design. [14] As well as leading the UK research team, she is also clinical supervisor for therapists delivering interventions as part of the trial, and PhD supervisor for doctoral students undertaking PhDs affiliated with Homeside. [15]
Bieleninik, L., Geretseger, M., Mossler, K., Assmus, J., Thompson, G., Gattino, G., Elefant, C., Gottfried, T., Igliozzi., Muratori, F., Suvini, F., Kim, J., Crawford, M., Odell-Miller, H., Oldfield A., Casey, O., Finneman, J., Carpente, J., Park A-La, Grossi, E., and Gold, C. (2017) ‘Effects of improvisational music therapy vs standard care on symptom severity among children with autism spectrum disorder: The TIME-A randomized clinical trial’, JAMA : 318 (6); 525-535. [16]
Compton Dickinson, S.; Odell-Miller, H. and Adlam, J.; (2013) Forensic Music Therapy. London: Jessica Kingsley. [17]
Baker, F.A., Bloska, J., Braat, S., Bukowska, A., Clark, I.N., Hsu, M.H., Kvamme, T., Lautenschlager, N.T., Lee, Y-E.C., Smrokowska-Reichmann, A., Sousa, T., Stensæth, K., Tamplin, J., Wosch, T., and Odell-Miller, H. (2019) HOMESIDE: Home-based family caregiver-delivered music and reading interventions for people living with dementia: Protocol of a randomised controlled trial. BMJ Open . [14]
Gavrielidou, M and Odell-Miller, H., (2016) “An Investigation of Pivotal Moments in Music Therapy in Adult Mental Health”. The Arts in Psychotherapy An investigation of pivotal moments in music therapy in adult mental health [18]
Gold, C., Eickholt, J., Assmus, J., Stige, B., Wake, J., Baker, F., Tamplin, J., Clark, I., Lee, C., Jacobsen, S., Ridder, H., Kreutz., Muthesius, D., Wosch. T., Ceccato, E., Raglio, A., Ruggeri. M., Vink. A., Zuidema, S., Odell-Miller, H., Orrell, M., Schneider, J., Kubiak, C., Romeo, R. and Geretsegger, M., 2019. Music Interventions for Dementia and Depression in Elderly care (MIDDEL): protocol and statistical analysis plan for a multinational cluster-randomised trial. BMJ Open. [19]
Hsu, M. H., Flowerdew, R., Parker, M., Fachner, J., & Odell-Miller, H. (2015). The impact of music therapy on managing neuropsychiatric symptoms for people with dementia and their carers: a randomised controlled feasibility study. BMC Geriatrics. 15:84 doi:10.1186/s12877-015-0082-4 [20]
Odell-Miller, H. (1988) ‘A music therapy approach in mental health’. Psychology of Music and Music Education, 16:62-70. [21]
Odell-Miller, H. (1989) An investigation into the effects of music therapy with elderly mentally ill people. M.Phil thesis City University, London.
Odell-Miller, H. (2001) ‘Music therapy and its relationship to psychoanalysis’ in Y.Searle and I. Streng (eds.) Where analysis meets the arts (pp. 127-152). London: Karnac Books. [22]
Odell-Miller, H. (2003) ‘Are words enough? Music therapy as an influence in psychoanalytic psychotherapy’ in L. King and R. Randall (eds.) The Future of psychoanalytic psychotherapy. London: Whurr.
Odell-Miller, H., Hughes, P. and Westacott, M. (2006) ‘An investigation into the effectiveness of the arts therapies for adults with continuing mental health problems’. Psychotherapy Research 16(1), 122-139. [23]
Odell-Miller, H. (2007) The Practice of Music Therapy for Adults with Mental Health Problems: The relationship between diagnosis and clinical method .PhD thesis, Aalborg University, Faculty of Humanities. [11]
Odell-Miller, H.; Richards, E. (2009) Supervision of music therapy: a theoretical and practical handbook. London: Routledge. [24]
Odell-Miller, H. (2018) Response to Justine Schneider’s article ‘Music therapy and dementia care practice in the United Kingdom: A British Association for Music Therapy membership survey. British Journal of Music Therapy Volume: 32 issue: 2, page(s): 70-73. [25]
Odell-Miller, H., Bloska, J., Browning, C. and Hannibal, N. (2019). Process and experience of change in the self-perception of women prisoners attending music therapy: The qualitative results of a mixed-methods exploratory study. Approaches, [online] Available at: Process and experience of change in the self-perception of women prisoners attending music therapy: The qualitative results of a mixed-methods exploratory study — Helen Odell-Miller, Jodie Bloska, Clara Browning & Niels Hannibal – Approaches. [26]
Schaverien J. & Odell-Miller, H. (2005) ‘The arts therapies’ in G. Gabbard, J. Beck and J. Holmes. (eds) Oxford Textbook of Psychotherapy (pp. 87-94) Oxford: Oxford University Press. [27]
Strange, J., Odell-Miller, H. and Richards, E. (2016) Collaboration and assistance in music therapy practice: roles, relationships, challenges. London: JKP. [28]
Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is a psycho-social intervention that aims to reduce symptoms of various mental health conditions, primarily depression and anxiety disorders. Cognitive behavioral therapy is one of the most effective means of treatment for substance abuse and co-occurring mental health disorders. CBT focuses on challenging and changing cognitive distortions and their associated behaviors to improve emotional regulation and develop personal coping strategies that target solving current problems. Though it was originally designed to treat depression, its uses have been expanded to include many issues and the treatment of many mental health conditions, including anxiety, substance use disorders, marital problems, ADHD, and eating disorders. CBT includes a number of cognitive or behavioral psychotherapies that treat defined psychopathologies using evidence-based techniques and strategies.
Psychotherapy is the use of psychological methods, particularly when based on regular personal interaction, to help a person change behavior, increase happiness, and overcome problems. Psychotherapy aims to improve an individual's well-being and mental health, to resolve or mitigate troublesome behaviors, beliefs, compulsions, thoughts, or emotions, and to improve relationships and social skills. Numerous types of psychotherapy have been designed either for individual adults, families, or children and adolescents. Certain types of psychotherapy are considered evidence-based for treating some diagnosed mental disorders; other types have been criticized as pseudoscience.
Group psychotherapy or group therapy is a form of psychotherapy in which one or more therapists treat a small group of clients together as a group. The term can legitimately refer to any form of psychotherapy when delivered in a group format, including art therapy, cognitive behavioral therapy or interpersonal therapy, but it is usually applied to psychodynamic group therapy where the group context and group process is explicitly utilized as a mechanism of change by developing, exploring and examining interpersonal relationships within the group.
Music therapy, an allied health profession, "is the clinical and evidence-based use of music interventions to accomplish individualized goals within a therapeutic relationship by a credentialed professional who has completed an approved music therapy program." It is also a vocation, involving a deep commitment to music and the desire to use it as a medium to help others. Although music therapy has only been established as a profession relatively recently, the connection between music and therapy is not new.
Occupational therapy (OT) is a healthcare profession that involves the use of assessment and intervention to develop, recover, or maintain the meaningful activities, or occupations, of individuals, groups, or communities. The field of OT consists of health care practitioners trained and educated to improve mental and physical performance. Occupational therapists specialize in teaching, educating, and supporting participation in any activity that occupies an individual's time. It is an independent health profession sometimes categorized as an allied health profession and consists of occupational therapists (OTs) and occupational therapy assistants (OTAs). While OTs and OTAs have different roles, they both work with people who want to improve their mental and or physical health, disabilities, injuries, or impairments.
Dance/movement therapy (DMT) in USA and Australia or dance movement psychotherapy (DMP) in the UK is the psychotherapeutic use of movement and dance to support intellectual, emotional, and motor functions of the body. As a modality of the creative arts therapies, DMT looks at the correlation between movement and emotion.
The expressive therapies are the use of the creative arts as a form of therapy, including the distinct disciplines expressive arts therapy and the creative arts therapies. The expressive therapies are based on the assumption that people can heal through the various forms of creative expression. Expressive therapists share the belief that through creative expression and the tapping of the imagination, people can examine their body, feelings, emotions, and thought process.
Art therapy is a distinct discipline that incorporates creative methods of expression through visual art media. Art therapy, as a creative arts therapy profession, originated in the fields of art and psychotherapy and may vary in definition. Art therapy encourages creative expression through painting, drawing, or modelling. It may work by providing a person with a safe space to express their feelings and allow them to feel more in control over their life.
Cognitive analytic therapy (CAT) is a form of psychological therapy initially developed in the United Kingdom by Anthony Ryle. This time-limited therapy was developed in the context of the UK's National Health Service with the aim of providing effective and affordable psychological treatment which could be realistically provided in a resource constrained public health system. It is distinctive due to its intensive use of reformulation, its integration of cognitive and analytic practice and its collaborative nature, involving the patient very actively in their treatment.
Online counseling is a form of professional mental health counseling that is generally performed through the internet. Computer aided technologies are used by the trained professional counselors and individuals seeking counseling services to communicate rather than conventional face-to-face interactions. Online counseling is also referred to as teletherapy, e-therapy, cyber therapy, or web counseling. Services are typically offered via email, real-time chat, and video conferencing. Some clients use online counseling in conjunction with traditional psychotherapy, or nutritional counseling. An increasing number of clients are using online counseling as a replacement for office visits.
Play therapy refers to a range of methods of capitalising on children's natural urge to explore and harnessing it to meet and respond to the developmental and later also their mental health needs. It is also used for forensic or psychological assessment purposes where the individual is too young or too traumatised to give a verbal account of adverse, abusive or potentially criminal circumstances in their life.
Child psychotherapy, or mental health interventions for children refers to the psychological treatment of various mental disorders diagnosed in children and adolescents. The therapeutic techniques developed for younger age ranges specialize in prioritizing the relationship between the child and the therapist. The goal of maintaining positive therapist-client relationships is typically achieved using therapeutic conversations and can take place with the client alone, or through engagement with family members.
Psychoeducation is an evidence-based therapeutic intervention for patients and their loved ones that provides information and support to better understand and cope with illness. Psychoeducation is most often associated with serious mental illness, including dementia, schizophrenia, clinical depression, anxiety disorders, eating disorders, bipolar and personality disorders. The term has also been used for programs that address physical illnesses, such as cancer.
Psychological therapies for dementia are starting to gain some momentum. Improved clinical assessment in early stages of Alzheimer's disease and other forms of dementia, increased cognitive stimulation of the elderly, and the prescription of drugs to slow cognitive decline have resulted in increased detection in the early stages. Although the opinions of the medical community are still apprehensive to support cognitive therapies in dementia patients, recent international studies have started to create optimism.
Psychotherapy discontinuation, also known as unilateral termination, patient dropout, and premature termination, is a patient's decision to stop mental health treatment before they have received an adequate number of sessions. In the United States, the prevalence of patient dropout is estimated to be between 40–60% over the course of treatment however, the overwhelming majority of patients will drop after two sessions. An exhaustive meta-analysis of 146 studies in Western countries showed that the mean dropout rate is 34.8% with a wide range of 10.3% to 81.0%. The studies from the US (n = 85) had a dropout rate of 37.9% (range: 33.0% to 43.0%).
Paul Newham is a retired British psychotherapist known for developing techniques used in psychology and psychotherapy that make extensive use of the arts to facilitate and examine two forms of human communication: the interpersonal communication through which people speak aloud and listen to others, and the intrapersonal communication that enables individuals to converse silently with themselves. His methods emphasise the examination of traumatic experiences through literary and vocal mediums of expression, including creative writing, storytelling, and song. He is cited by peers as a pioneer in recognition of his original contribution to the expressive therapies.
Margaret Jeffrey Rioch (1907–1996) was an American psychotherapist, internationally known for her critical work in the field of psychology. She is best known for her role in establishing a new method of training for mental health counselors. Rioch's publications and projects have directly led to the current systems of mental health care treatment. Notable methods that have stemmed from her work include crisis hotlines and the use of support groups. She died in 1996 at the age of 89.
Etheldreda Nakimuli-Mpungu is a professor, researcher, epidemiologist and psychiatrist at the Department of Psychiatry in the Faculty of Medicine, Makerere University in Uganda. Her research is particularly focused on supportive group psychotherapy as a first-line treatment for depression in people with HIV. She is one of only five recipients of the Elsevier Foundation Award for Early Career Women Scientists in the Developing World in Biological Sciences, as well as listed at one of the BBC's 100 Women in 2020.
Claudi Bockting is a Dutch clinical psychologist and Professor of Clinical Psychology in Psychiatry at the University of Amsterdams Faculty of Medicine, Amsterdam University Medical Centers. Her research program focuses on identifying etiological factors of common mental health disorders such as depression, anxiety disorders and substance abuse, and developing evidence-based psychotherapeutic interventions.
Natalie Rogers (1928–2015) was an early contributor to the field of humanistic psychology, person centered psychology, expressive arts therapy, and the founder of Person-Centered Expressive Arts. This combination of the arts with psychotherapy is sometimes referred to by Rogers as The Creative Connection. The daughter of Carl Rogers, one of the founders of humanistic psychology, she established her own center, the Person-Centered Expressive Therapy Institute. Her writings, teachings, and practice introduced many to the power of creative arts for healing both within and outside the therapeutic setting.
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