Featured researcher: Dr. David José Gamella González

What is your area of research, and what would you like us to know about you?

My current research interests and projects involve music therapy in medical settings and the use of technology in music therapy.

A first major area of interest is the analgesic effects of music in hospital settings. I am specifically interested in the use of music therapy to decrease pain and increase well-being of patients in order to humanize how we work in medical settings and to reduce post-intensive care syndrome (PICS). Unfortunately, ongoing COVID-related restrictions are preventing us from conducting research at this time.

A second area of interest is the use of technology in the context of music therapy clinical work. For example, I am currently working with ERASMUS+ to develop an app aimed at bridging communication, documentation, and resources between music therapy sessions. It is important to control the therapeutic goals between one session and the next and to follow how the patient is doing between sessions without needing to call them. With this app, the patient can enter relevant info into the app, access music, continue a songwriting process, etc.  I am also involved in a team of music therapists which is addressing three goals: 1) Explore the benefits of behavioral approaches used in psychology in order to apply them in music therapy; 2) Improve documentation by working with IT to build an app; and 3) Use and evaluate this app in a hospital as part of a project for ERASMUS+.

Third, I am currently working with a team at the university on a paper called “Music and Nostalgia.” The purpose of this study is to analyze nostalgia as a factor that determines musical tastes. This involves a survey with musicians and non-musicians, asking questions about music and nostalgia from different periods of their lives, including youth, teenage, and adult years. This survey was conducted by psychologists and music therapists.  This study will also examine how nostalgia is a gateway to the “store of good memories” specifically in the context of music therapy by analyzing the correlation between a person’s musical history and moments of happiness from their past.

What are you most proud of?

In my years of university training in Music Therapy (2003-2004) in Spain, research was not a central point. Over the years I have been developing skills and valuing the importance of research protocols for the professional development of music therapy. I believe that this is the way to achieve institutional recognition of music therapy in Spain. I recently developed a syllabus together with two colleagues in a Master’s program that I lead at the International University of La Rioja (UNIR), and I am designing a publication of a Spanish handbook on these topics to promote the rigor of the research protocols. As a teaching innovation project in 2021, I created a research journal in Music Therapy: Misostenido journal  (www.revistamisostenido.com. I recently promoted the creation of a Music Therapy research group called GiM (Grupo de Investigación en Musicoterapia) at the International University of La Rioja. It is now a subgroup of another music research group called TEIMUS (https://gruposinvestigacion.unir.net/teimus/miembros/). Finally, I am very proud to have led an intervention project in the ICU and in the Large Burns Unit for three years together with 15 music therapists at the La Paz University Hospital in Madrid, and having provided a quality service to many patients.

And finally, I am very proud to inspire and transmit the passion of Music Therapy to new students. Over all my years dedicated to teaching, I have developed a level of global understanding of this discipline, which has enabled me to clearly detect how to motivate learning and innovation in Music Therapy. My main goal is always how to find a way to renew and adapt Music Therapy to the needs of today's society.

What are your top 5 publications (from your perspective)?

1. Gamella, D. and Fattorini, A. (2021). MEMACI: Proyecto de musicoterapia para el desarrollo emocional de menores con altas capacidades intelectuales [MEMACI: Music therapy for the emotional development of children with high intellectual abilities]. In Buzón García, O. (Ed.) Experiencias innovadoras y desarrollo de competencias docentes en educación ante el horizonte 2030 [Innovative experiences and development of teaching competencies in education before the 2030 horizon] (pp. 562-593). Dykinson.
2. Fattorini, A. & Gamella, D. (2021). Ética profesional en musicoterapia desde la perspectiva del musicoterapeuta [Professional ethics in music therapy from the perspective of the music therapist]. In Guidobono, S. O. (Ed.) Artes y humanidades en el centro de los conocimientos. Miradas sobre el patrimonio, la cultura, la historia, la antropología y la demografía [Arts and humanities at the center of knowledge. Perspectives on heritage, culture, history, anthropology and demography] (pp. 637-670). Dykinson.
3. Gamella, González, D. (2021). Musicoterapia y tecnologias musicales [Music therapy and digital technologies]. In Perez Eizaguirre, M., Del Olmo, M. J. (Eds.), Musicoterapia [Music therapy] (pp. 197-229). Paraninfo.
4. Ruiz Santos, M., & Gamella González, D. (2021). La Musicoterapia en el tratamiento integral de los pacientes oncológicos pediátricos [Music therapy in the comprehensive treatment of pediatric cancer patients]. Revista de Investigacion en Musicoterapia, 4(4), 78-97. https://doi.org/10.15366/rim2020.4.005.
5. Gallardo, J., & Gamella González, D. (2021). Musicoterapia hospitalaria: Impacto del rock and roll en la unidad pediátrica de trasplantes del Hospital Universitario La Paz [Hospital music therapy: Impact of rock and roll in the pediatric transplant unit of La Paz University Hospital]. Revista de Investigacion en Musicoterapia, 4(4), 1-20. https://doi.org/10.15366/rim2020.4.001

What specific researcher skills do you think you have honed?

I think one of my main skills is managing teams of professionals and research teams. I believe that I have great capacity to lead teams and coordinate the various actions that an investigation requires. On the other hand, I think I stand out in the ability to design projects and maintain a global vision of all its parts. Finally, I believe my best abilities are linked to the writing and dissemination of results.

What research activity do you enjoy the most?

The two research tasks in which I like to work the most are in the creative development and structural design of research projects, as well as the teamwork and communication aspects. I consider myself a very creative and observant person. I can predict the needs of a team and quickly think about how to resolve it. I consider myself a good leader because I listen to others and the needs of the team, and I speak with others in a way that motivates them.

What research activity do you like least?

I am more interested in qualitative research and analysis. This limits my ability to handle statistics and mathematical calculations. This is undoubtedly my greatest weakness, although it does not detract from its importance. I believe that it is a fundamental element to reach valid conclusions about the usefulness of music therapy interventions.

What research activity keeps you up at night?

What wakes me up at night more than a research activity as such, is to discover what is the best way to transmit to music therapy students the importance of research and motivation to develop projects that are well designed and grounded in theory. My next goal is to get recognition from Harvard (Harvard Manage Mentor program) for my students of the Master of Music Therapy by including new activities based on thematic case studies of music therapy in each of the subjects. Three years ago, I created a new journal about music therapy research. I am working on having this journal recognized in Scopus. This summer we will publish the fifth issue.

What are you working on now and/or hope to do soon?

My current and upcoming projects include leading the Music Therapy research group called GiM (Grupo de Investigación en Musicoterapia) with Melisa Mercadal, who has been a prominent member of the WFMT and the EMTC. We are starting the tasks of the GiM group with the project described above in question 1, namely, exploring behavioral approaches in music therapy, building an app to improve documentation, and using and evaluating this app in a hospital as part of a project for ERASMUS+.

Another project I am involved with is the creation of the MUT talks, the first days for the professional promotion of music therapists. We do not deal with theoretical issues, for that it is part of the master of music therapy, but rather in practical issues such as problem-solving, the opening of a therapy center, taxation or mentoring. It is a format similar to the TED talks. These will be held in Madrid on June 30, 2023.

Currently I also work in an audiovisual project of dissemination of music therapy research in the Music Therapy Association HDOSOL. HDOSOL is a non-profit organization formed in 2021 by seven colleagues and myself. It is dedicated to carrying out innovative projects in Music Therapy, providing clinical music therapy services, supervising students in the Master of Music Therapy program at the International University of La Rioja, and mentoring for the development of music therapy projects and to promote continuous training courses for young music therapists. I currently provide professional and conceptual advisement for two doctoral Theses. One is about evaluation and data collection in Music Therapy (UNIR) and the other about Music Therapy and Art Therapy in oncology in the hospital "12 de octubre" in Madrid.

Finally, I am beginning to study the potential of artificial intelligence in various music therapy applications related to songwriting techniques. Also I am immersed in the writing of two handbooks. One is on therapeutic skills and the other one on resources to design research projects and research protocols. In addition, in the coming months I will launch an app developed specifically to facilitate data collection in music therapy sessions and to obtain statistically analyzed results.

If you are interested in a local or international collaboration, what are you/who are you looking for?

In the framework of the ERASMUS+ project I am in the process of looking for partners to constitute a collaborative consortium for the development of the project. I am looking for innovative people who are interested in exploring new and creative ways to approach sessions and research in order to update our music therapy methods for the 21st century. I am interested in partners with research experience and willing to commit to actively participating in a three-year project.