Category
Creative and Artistic
Description
The MELD Framework integrates music, emotion, language, and dialogue as a trauma-informed intervention supporting emotional regulation and self-expression. Grounded in neurobiology and trauma theory, this approach recognizes that traumatic experiences are stored in nonverbal, right-hemisphere systems and require embodied processing before verbal integration occurs. Using music and lyric analysis, the framework facilitates safe access to emotional states while promoting bilateral brain integration and narrative coherence. This mixed-methods study examines the impact of a single 20–25 minute MELD session on participants' emotional regulation, self-expression, and integration through pre- and post-intervention self-report measures and qualitative reflective writing prompts. Analysis focuses on shifts in emotional regulation, meaning-making, and identity themes. The MELD Framework offers a versatile, culturally responsive intervention applicable across clinical practice, counselor education, and supervision, with future applications including group adaptations and neurodiverse populations.
Whole-Brain Emotional Processing Through the MELD Framework: A Music-Based Trauma-Informed Intervention
Creative and Artistic
The MELD Framework integrates music, emotion, language, and dialogue as a trauma-informed intervention supporting emotional regulation and self-expression. Grounded in neurobiology and trauma theory, this approach recognizes that traumatic experiences are stored in nonverbal, right-hemisphere systems and require embodied processing before verbal integration occurs. Using music and lyric analysis, the framework facilitates safe access to emotional states while promoting bilateral brain integration and narrative coherence. This mixed-methods study examines the impact of a single 20–25 minute MELD session on participants' emotional regulation, self-expression, and integration through pre- and post-intervention self-report measures and qualitative reflective writing prompts. Analysis focuses on shifts in emotional regulation, meaning-making, and identity themes. The MELD Framework offers a versatile, culturally responsive intervention applicable across clinical practice, counselor education, and supervision, with future applications including group adaptations and neurodiverse populations.
