Music Therapy with Active Service Members
at Naval Medical Center San Diego

Program Descriptions:

Our involvement with the military has grown since 2008 where we facilitated a large-scale interactive drumming experience for over 200 marines at Camp Pendleton after completing their boot camp training. Through the Sempre Fi Fund, we are now able to work directly with those returning vets who have a Post Traumatic Stress Disorder or a traumatic brain injury. We hope to continue to accommodate the active and retired military members.

BWAP Program – Balboa Wounded Athlete Program. Based out of the Health and Wellness department at NMCSD, the program focuses on music for overall wellness and day-to-day integration of life situations. Music interventions include: active music making, relaxation, lyric analysis, songwriting, and creative arts.

This program began with an 8-week pilot that started on October 4, 2010 and continues to this day. The group members completed a CD project in which they wrote and recorded their own music. The 4-track CD is a stellar example of real-life situations that service members face on a day-to-day basis balanced with a light-hearted acceptance as portrayed through the music.

IOP Group – Intensive Outpatient Program. Based out of the C5 department, which primarily focuses on recovery from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and amputations, this is an 8-week closed group for service members experiencing extreme symptoms of PTSD. The music therapy component is a progressive curriculum that focuses on interventions that are client-preferred. This curriculum is structured to understand ways in which PTSD may manifest including: inability to function, isolation, depression, hyper-vigilance, impatience, anxiety, aggression and emotional detachment. Constant assessment is needed in this group, to maintain awareness of where group members are in each moment, as a number of things can trigger an episode or flash back.

TBI Group – Traumatic Brain Injury. Part of the POWER Program, this group is an 8-week closed group for members specifically diagnosed with TBI. The levels of brain injury range from mild to moderately severe and are newly-diagnosed. Music therapy provides a progressive curriculum that incorporates Neurologic Music Therapy techniques, specifically designed for individuals with acute TBI.

The OASIS Program - Overcoming Adversity and Stress Injury Support. This program involves working with active service members in an intensive 10-week residential inpatient setting at Naval Base Pt. Loma. Service members are rehabilitating from symptoms of PTSD, drug and alcohol addiction. Using music therapy methods of active music making, lyric interpretation, songwriting, therapeutic instrumental musical performance and other neurologic music therapy techniques, the group is able to build cohesion, increase acknowledgement and insight of self as well as others, improve appropriate communication skills and focus on strengths and abilities. The main goal of this rehabilitation program is to prepare service members for integration back into active duty.

EFMP - Exceptional Family Member Program. Military personnel on active duty enroll in the EFMP when they have a family member with a physical, emotional, developmental, or intellectual disorder requiring specialized services so their needs can be addressed with hands-on services and education of available resources. In 2010, RJoy provided services at two events for about 200 children and their families through the EFMP and Lincoln Military Housing.

Currently, there are no music therapy or supportive music-making organizations affiliated with these populations at the EFMP at any of the three bases – among MCRD, Pendleton, and Miramar the EFMP provides services for nearly 3,000 families.

RJoy and the EFMP future possibilities:

• lead interactive music experiences for family events
• facilitate music-based workshops to educate families
• implement MT services; “Sound Minds” as part of military’s “Parent Support Program”
• incorporate music therapy services into adult support groups
  * for spouses of those actively deployed
  * or for parents in the military who have children with special need