Person-centred Music with Mendel Kaelen

Wavepaths presents a new and updated workshop format on person centred music, accessible on-demand for those with an active subscription.

The combined use of music and psychedelic substances predates Western medicine, with roots in Indigenous cultural practices. Yet with the rise of psychedelic therapy in the West, practitioners are left with questions regarding the function of music and how to support patients with music effectively in clinical settings. 

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If you are a Wavepaths care-provider and do not have access, please email us.

Learning Outcomes

• Deepen your understanding of the role of music in psychedelic therapy 

• Learn about the key concepts and therapy techniques that make music-selection person-centred

• Experience and learn about the 6 distinct therapeutic functions of music and how to select and design music for psychedelic therapy sessions accordingly

• Gain insight and access to Wavepaths music tool for Care Providers

On-demand content

Session 1: Workshop Introduction & Deep Listening Experience

• Defining deep listening and your own relationship with music as a therapist

• Understanding the main shifts in attitude that come with deep listening

• Experiencing the potential of music as a psychedelic first-hand and how deep listening can be used as a preparation and integration tool within psychedelic therapies

Session 2: Scientific Foundations for applying Person-Centred Music in Psychedelic Therapies

• Understanding the neuroscientific mechanisms for experience-based learning and change within psychotherapy

• Understanding the primary therapeutic role of music in Psychedelic Therapy

• A brief overview of ongoing research and key findings at Wavepaths on Person-centred Music for Psychedelic Therapy

Session 3: Key Concepts and Definitions of Person Centred Music

• Understanding the ways person-centredness can be applied to music-selection in psychotherapy contexts

• An introduction to the key concepts of person-centred music and how these apply to music music-selection before and during therapy session

• An introduction to 6 distinct therapeutic functions of music and their use-cases

Session 4: Person-centred music selection for psychedelic therapies

• An overview of the main variables influencing music selection before the session (Session template / playlist design)

• Understand how to tailor music to the pharmacodynamics of the medicine 

• Understand how to tailor music to the individual traits and therapeutic objectives of the patient
  
  

Session 5: Person-centred music adaptation within psychedelic therapies

• Understand music selection as an ongoing dialogue between patient, therapist, medicine and music

• Understand how and when to adapt music during sessions

• Defining 3 distinct types of psychological resistance your patient may express, and how to respond to each of these differently.
  
  

Who this course is for

Designed as an introduction to music for/as psychedelic therapy, this workshop series is created for:

• Therapists working with Psychedelics, such as Ketamine, Psilocybin, MDMA and others.  

• Psychedelic therapy students

• Any mental health practitioners who are looking to work with music in their practice

Equipment Needed

Session 1 includes an experiential deep listening component that requires:

• Your best headphones or external sound system

• An eye mask to support full immersion in the music

• A jumper or blanket to hand for warmth and comfort
  
  

Try Wavepaths

If you are a Wavepaths care-provider and do not have access, please email us

Dr. Mendel Kaelen is the founder and CEO of Wavepaths. Prior to this, he worked as a PhD and postdoctoral neuroscientist at Imperial College London since 2012, where his research was the first to demonstrate music’s central role in psychedelic therapies. He is a thought leader on the therapeutic use of music and publishes and speaks frequently on this topic.