How Music Can Help with Emotional Regulation in Adults with Intellectual Disabilities
- Molly Warren
- 5 days ago
- 2 min read
A study was recently published in JMIR Research Protocols (An Individual Music Intervention for Adults With Intellectual Disabilities and Challenging Behavior: Protocol for a Randomized Controlled Trial) to examine if music interventions can help adults with intellectual disabilities to regulate their emotions and decrease challenging behavior. The findings were positive.
Adults with intellectual disabilities can have difficulties with emotional regulation, impulse
control, paying attention/focusing, and transitions/change which are aspects of "executive
functioning". If executive functioning is impaired, a person may exhibit difficulty with emotional regulation, verbal or physical aggression, changes in transitions/schedule and the use of external supports to help them self-regulate. These behaviors and difficulties are not willful, but the manifestation of a dysregulated nervous system and the use of maladaptive coping skills.
So how can supports incorporate music into our clients’ lives to help with emotional regulation?
Supports first should help the client identify their preferred music. They will want to have the
client choose their preferred songs, genres, artists. Supports should work with the client to
identify specific types of music for each situation. Supports might help the client to create a
"Calming Down" playlist, a "Feeling Blue" playlist, a "Routine" playlist, etc. Music should be
personalized to the client in order for it to be effective.
Pairing music with the clients' routine can help build predictability and reduce anxiety. Supports might pair a specific song with starting the clients' shower or bath and use a calming playlist when it is time for the client to wind down for bed. By creating these consistent connections, supports will help the client predict and trust upcoming transitions/routines, therefore reducing resistance/anxiety.
Supports should offer music during the early escalation of behavior or baseline rather than after the client is overwhelmed by a stimulus. The client should be offered music as an option, not a requirement. It is highly unlikely that a music intervention will be effective during a crisis, as a person's capacity to process information, including music, decreases significantly.
Supports can try using music to mark the start/end of activity, rather than timers. If a client has difficulty engaging in tasks they find challenging like cleaning, supports might prompt the client with "let's play this song for you while you clean." The client may be asked to clean for a whole song.
Supports can incorporate music with activity and movement. If support staff are walking with the client outside, supports can also turn on music. Nervous system regulation can be enhanced by combining activity/movement and music rather than by simply using music alone.
When a client cannot find the words to articulate their emotions, a song might be more
appropriate for them to use. Instead of trying to describe the feeling they’re experiencing, a
client may have supports help them to select a song that describes how they’re feeling instead. In short, music may have the ability to reach a clients needs and/or emotions when words simply cannot.
Overall, music can be extremely beneficial for our clients' success in regulating and expressing their emotions. Fortunately, we live in a day and age where we all have access to music through our phones, computers, radios, TVs, and in the community.
Reference:
Samantha Easton, LCSW, Miren Behavior
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