Liberation music therapy

Domain VIII · Creative & expressive arts therapies · Dorian Wallace · 2022 · New York, USA

What it is

Liberation music therapy (LMT) is a practice framework, not a manualised therapy. Dorian Wallace is a composer and music therapist who calls himself board-certified. He applied it at Rikers Island jail and says it draws on his work in hospice, carceral settings and recovery from high-control…

Format

• No published phases, session count or progression criteria. Wallace gives no formal session structure, number of sessions or outcome measures. His one worked example is a group format: play a community-relevant song to people in custody, then pose reflective questions.
• Educational and Transformational Practices

Who practises it, and how they are trained or regulated

• closing ritual and regulation check
• Wallace practises as a board-certified music therapist.
• US credential. The MT-BC is granted by the Certification Board for Music Therapists (CBMT). It requires completing an AMTA-approved academic and clinical training programme and passing the CBMT exam, then recertifying every five years with 100 credits. Certification is voluntary, but some states require it for licensure or registries.

Evidence status, as the guide reports it

• Not a stand-alone treatment. LMT does not replace evidence-based treatment for PTSD, psychosis, severe depression or substance use. Use it alongside such care.

Questions to explore with your client

• What drew you to it, and what are you hoping it will change?
• Is there physical contact? Was it explained beforehand, and do you feel free to say no or stop at any point?
• Does it involve any substance, plant preparation, remedy or supplement? Has your doctor or prescriber been told, especially about any medication you take?
• Does it involve intense or unusual breathing? Have you been told about the medical conditions for which that is not advised?
• Does it involve fasting, a special diet or 'detox'? Have you discussed this with your doctor?
• Who runs it, and what training or registration do they hold?
• What actually happens in a session or meeting, and how often?
• What does it cost, and is there pressure to commit to more?
• How do you feel afterwards, in the hours and days that follow?
• Does it fit with, or clash with, the work we do here?

What practitioners of it watch for

• Session plans show deliberate attention to all spokes, and repeated gaps become visible.
• Ethics approval if any of it becomes research; anonymity; and institutional retaliation risk.
• Confidentiality when outside partners join; dual relationships if you are also an organiser in the same community.
• Lecturing. Information that feeds self-blame. Unsourced claims. Some of Wallace's class frameworks are presented without sources; teach only material you can source.
• It is working when members bring songs and argue for them. Watch for someone choosing a song to provoke another member, and for songs tied to a member's trauma. Ask privately before playing a…

When to involve someone else

• New or worsening physical symptoms, or advice to stop or change prescribed medication: involve the client's doctor or prescriber.
• Signs of coercion, isolation from family and friends, escalating costs or secrecy: discuss openly and consider safeguarding.
• A crisis or thoughts of suicide: follow your crisis protocol. In the US, call or text 988; in the UK and Ireland, Samaritans on 116 123.

Drawn automatically from the guide's own sections. Stay curious: neither endorse nor dismiss what the client values, and check anything that matters against the full guide and its sources. Not medical advice.