Table 2.

Spectrum of approaches to music and trauma.

Musical purpose	Stabilizing	Entrainment	Exploratory	Performative
Music methods	Focused music listening	Group drumming, structured improvisation, shared singing	Music psychotherapy—improvisation, guided imagery, song writing	Song writing and performance
Neural activity	Primitive	Primitive	Cognitive	Multiple
Relevant theories	Porges, Perry	Siegel, Ogden	Herman, Van der Kolk	Herman, Butler
Form	Individual	Group	Individual or Group	Group
Context	Short-term acute	Community	Long-term recovery	Community
Therapeutic focus	PTSD symptoms	Dissociation	Integration	Recovery
Regulatory	Physiological regulation	Co-regulation	Emotion regulation	Self-regulation
Reported benefits	Reduced negative symptoms, sleep, relaxation	Varied	Emotional work, self-worth	Social connections, resilience
Research	Quant	Varied	Varied	Participatory/Program description