This paper is an exploration of the potential benefits of an all-women’s chant group. A mixed-methods study using a Community Music Therapy approach informed by Feminist Music Therapy Theory sheds light on the questions: How are individuals’ resilience affected by participation in a multi-session Women’s Chant Group? How does participation in a single-session Women’s Chant Group affect an individual’s mood? Which elements of a Women’s Chant Group are perceived to be the most important to the participants? No statistical significance was found in participants’ resiliency from the beginning to end of the study, although a higher sample size may yield more promising results. The Women’s Chant Group sessions demonstrated a considerable positive impact on the mood of the participants, specifically in reducing feelings of anxiety and increasing feelings of relaxation. Participants found the experience of creating aesthetic, complex, high-quality vocal music to be the most important element of the Women’s Chant Group. Recommendations are made for future research into the area of Women’s Chant Groups.

The concept of multiculturalism in music therapy is becoming increasingly relevant in the United States. The purpose of this thesis was to analyze multicultural content in undergraduate programs approved by the American Music Therapy Association (AMTA), and evaluate the Multicultural Counseling Competencies, in order to develop an educational tool to foster multicultural competency in undergraduate music therapy students. The research questions addressed in this analysis were: (a) what are the current multicultural education practices for undergraduate music therapy students in the United States, and (b) what aspects of multicultural counseling education can provide a framework for multicultural education in music therapy? Within music therapy education, there seems to be no standardized method of delivering multicultural content. Based on the findings of this content analysis, the author combined content from current multicultural music therapy and multicultural counseling education to develop a lecture series for undergraduate music therapy students. Results included the curricula of 68 AMTA-Approved undergraduate music therapy programs. 327 multiculturally related courses were identified. Coded course categories in order of frequency were ability, age, language, Non-Western music, ethnicity, race, socioeconomic status, gender, spirituality, sexual orientation, religion, and general

culture. These results are consistent with existing publications remarking on the state of multicultural education in music therapy.