Utilizing music techniques to treat teacher burnout: A school counselor's response to school reform

Stress and burnout among teachers have been critical issues in the field of education, especially in light of teacher shortages and school reform. Consequently, teachers are turning to school counselors for assistance. The purpose of this study was to determine the effectiveness of music therapy techniques as an intervention for teacher burnout.; The participants were 51 elementary school teachers: 25 teachers from a school experiencing comprehensive reform; and 26 participants from a traditional school. All participants completed an instrument packet containing a demographic data sheet and four test instruments: the Beck Depression Inventory, the Job Stress Survey, the Life Stressors and Social Resources Inventory - Adult Form, and the Maslach Burnout Inventory - Educators Survey.; The participants from each school were randomly assigned into one of two groups, a cognitive behavioral combined with music therapy treatment group or a cognitive behavioral group without music therapy, for a total of four groups overall. At the end of six weeks of treatment interventions, the participants completed a second set of the test instruments.; The study was conducted as a 2 x 2 factorial design. The independent variables for this study were: (a) the cognitive behavioral music therapy group intervention (values of the variable: cognitive behavioral versus cognitive behavioral music therapy), and (b) the school undergoing comprehensive school reform (values of the variable: reformed versus non-reformed or conventional). The dependent variables were the levels of depression, job stress, life stressors and social resources, and burnout, as measured by the test instruments.; Descriptive statistics were calculated for both the results of the test instruments and the demographic data. Instrument post-test scores were submitted to a Multivariate Analysis of Covariates (MANCOVA) as dependent variables with Treatment and School as the independent variables and the pre-test scores of the instruments as covariates.; Results of the study indicated that teachers who participated in school-based counseling groups using music therapy techniques reported lower levels of burnout symptoms than teachers in groups using cognitive behavioral interventions alone. School reform did not interact significantly with the two treatment modalities. The findings of this study have implications for future practical applications and the evolving role of the school counselor.