PATTERNS—A Model for Evaluating Trauma in NICU Music Therapy: Part 1—Theory and Design

Abstract

While preterm infants are born with survival mechan- isms intact, they lack the protective buffering system of the intrauterine environment. Dysmature neurologi- cal functioning and the absence of coping strategies further impede the preterm infant’s capacity to manage the heightened states of arousal commonly linked to hospitalization in a neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). Music therapy offers a unique capacity to enhance healing across the spectrum of experience, and research in NICU music therapy has shown consis- tent benefit for infants, parents, and caregivers in this environment. Integrating current evidence across disci- plines in developing new models of treatment is key to building fully informed and responsible practices. PAT- TERNS (Preventive Approach to Traumatic Experience by Resourcing the Nervous System) was developed to address this need both by identifying the broad- ranging potential for traumatic experience in the NICU and by utilizing this scope of potential exposure to trauma as a construct for the formation of a preventive music therapy treatment model that is based on latent human resiliency and trauma renegotiation principles.