MTBC PREP EXAM QUESTIONS WITH VERIFIED ANSWERS
A 17 year old is demonstrating a sudden decline in grades, increased unexcused absences, and inability
to concentrate when in school. Facial affect has changed from friendly to flat. When approached, the
student states ge is fine. Reports indicates the client responds to music, so a music therapy referral is
requested. To assess possible causes of the change in behavior, a music therapist should FIRST: -
CORRECT ANSWER✅✅✅Identify current stressors in the student's life.
(This choice allows the music therapist to determine potential causal factors)
A music therapisyt is using ballroom dancing to facilitate intimacy in a relationip between the client, who
has dementia, and his wife. During a session, the client's favorite bug-band music is played, but he is
having difficulty standing up and dancing with his wife. The best intervention would be to recommend
that the wife: - CORRECT ANSWER✅✅✅hold her husband's hands and move in time to the music.
(Having the wife hold her husband's hands and move in time to the music with him is an intervention
that brings both partners together in an active interaction that approximates dancing and facilitates
intimacy.
A 52-year old woman hospitalized for ovarian cancer requests music therapy to help her relax and sleep.
During the initial session conducted at betimes, the client shares her fears and life story before the use
of any music intervention. After validating the client's feelings, the BEST direction for the music therapist
to take is to: - CORRECT ANSWER✅✅✅improvise soft guitar music to help the client go to sleep.
(once the client has discussed her fears and shared her story, she may be more ready for sleep.
Introducing soft guitar music at this point would be germane to accomplishing the stated therapeutic
goal)
A music therapist has been jointly treating a client with vascular dementia and the client's daughter,
once a week for one hour. Recently, the client has become more withdrawn, presenting with a reduced
emotional response and increased passivity. Despite changes, the daughter continues to encourage the
client to be active and engaged, yet the client is agitated and combative. What is the best response? -
CORRECT ANSWER✅✅✅Re-evaluate the session length and interventions used during music
therapy sessions.
,(when working with clients who have vascular dementia, re-evaluation of the treatment length and
frequency, as well as type of interventions is an important aspect of care due to the often sudden onset
of symptoms and continued loss of functioning. While music therapy can be beneficial, music can also,
at times, be over-stimulating, possibly causing distress.
When completing a behavioral assessment, information relating ONLY to behaviors observed, not
interpretation, is considered: - CORRECT ANSWER✅✅✅objective
(behaviors that are observed are considered to provide objective information)
A 7-year old girl with a severe developmental disability is receiving music therapy in a residential setting.
She is nonverbal and prone to be fearful and anxious in new situations. When brought into the therapy
room for her first session, she actively resists and begins to cry. The music therapist, working in an
improvisational model, music do which of the following?
1. Meet the child by playing music to express the intensity of her crying.
2. Reflect the child's sound and breathing with careful musical phrasing.
3. Comfort the child by holding and rocking her while singing soothing lyrics.
4. Sing without words so the child hears another voice that corresponds to how she is feeling. - CORRECT
ANSWER✅✅✅1, 2, and 4.
(1. When hearing music that reflects the intensity of her crying, the child feels accepted and a musical
relationship begins to form.
2. By reflecting the child's sounds and breathing with careful musical phrasing, the child becomes aware
that someone is listening to her and aware of her own sounds. She feels accepted and understood.
4. Since the child is nonverbal, singing without words can be an effective way to make a connection.
Crying often turns into tonal singing when supported by the therapist. Singing is a natural and
pleasurable form of expression for both the verbal and the nonverbal.
"Since her admission, Mary has spent most of her time in her room and has not participated in unit
activities." Under which assessment domain would this statement MOST likely be found? - CORRECT
ANSWER✅✅✅Psychosocial
, (Psychosocial refers to quantity and quality of interpersonal interaction.)
When playing a familiar song with a young client, what therapeutic exercises will most effectively
increase sustained attention? - CORRECT ANSWER✅✅✅Changing note duration
(This strategy to address attention control. This focuses on the basic auditory attention function of
making lengthening/augmenting the notes)
The last portion of a music therapy SOAP note discusses which of the following? - CORRECT
ANSWER✅✅✅Plan for treatment
(The four components are Subjective, Objective, Assessment, and Plan with the last component being
plan for how to continue to treat the client)
A song on the guitar in the key of C needs to be transposed to the key of Eb. Using first position fingering
in the key of C, the therapist needs to place the capo on the: - CORRECT ANSWER✅✅✅3rd fret
(Placing the capo on the 3rd fret would transpose the song to Eb major.)
Evidenced-based practice (EBP) principles require music therapists to take which of the following into
account when planning treatment? - CORRECT ANSWER✅✅✅best available research; patient
characteristics, culture and preferences; and clinical expertise
(The following statement as a policy of the American Psychological Association (APA) August 2005:
"Evidenced-based practice in psychology (EBPP) is the integration of the best available research with
clinical expertise in the context of patient characteristics, culture, and preferences." The AMTA adopted
the following definition of evidenced-based music therapy practice in 2010: "Evidenced-based music
therapy practice integrated the best available research, the music therapists' expertise, and the needs,
values, and preferences of the individual(s) served."
A music therapist working with a group of four children at an early intervention facility arrives to find
the class is very excited, having just come in from the playground. What is the most important
consideration when choosing a music selection to begin the session? - CORRECT ANSWER✅✅✅a
song with an allegro tempo
A 17 year old is demonstrating a sudden decline in grades, increased unexcused absences, and inability
to concentrate when in school. Facial affect has changed from friendly to flat. When approached, the
student states ge is fine. Reports indicates the client responds to music, so a music therapy referral is
requested. To assess possible causes of the change in behavior, a music therapist should FIRST: -
CORRECT ANSWER✅✅✅Identify current stressors in the student's life.
(This choice allows the music therapist to determine potential causal factors)
A music therapisyt is using ballroom dancing to facilitate intimacy in a relationip between the client, who
has dementia, and his wife. During a session, the client's favorite bug-band music is played, but he is
having difficulty standing up and dancing with his wife. The best intervention would be to recommend
that the wife: - CORRECT ANSWER✅✅✅hold her husband's hands and move in time to the music.
(Having the wife hold her husband's hands and move in time to the music with him is an intervention
that brings both partners together in an active interaction that approximates dancing and facilitates
intimacy.
A 52-year old woman hospitalized for ovarian cancer requests music therapy to help her relax and sleep.
During the initial session conducted at betimes, the client shares her fears and life story before the use
of any music intervention. After validating the client's feelings, the BEST direction for the music therapist
to take is to: - CORRECT ANSWER✅✅✅improvise soft guitar music to help the client go to sleep.
(once the client has discussed her fears and shared her story, she may be more ready for sleep.
Introducing soft guitar music at this point would be germane to accomplishing the stated therapeutic
goal)
A music therapist has been jointly treating a client with vascular dementia and the client's daughter,
once a week for one hour. Recently, the client has become more withdrawn, presenting with a reduced
emotional response and increased passivity. Despite changes, the daughter continues to encourage the
client to be active and engaged, yet the client is agitated and combative. What is the best response? -
CORRECT ANSWER✅✅✅Re-evaluate the session length and interventions used during music
therapy sessions.
,(when working with clients who have vascular dementia, re-evaluation of the treatment length and
frequency, as well as type of interventions is an important aspect of care due to the often sudden onset
of symptoms and continued loss of functioning. While music therapy can be beneficial, music can also,
at times, be over-stimulating, possibly causing distress.
When completing a behavioral assessment, information relating ONLY to behaviors observed, not
interpretation, is considered: - CORRECT ANSWER✅✅✅objective
(behaviors that are observed are considered to provide objective information)
A 7-year old girl with a severe developmental disability is receiving music therapy in a residential setting.
She is nonverbal and prone to be fearful and anxious in new situations. When brought into the therapy
room for her first session, she actively resists and begins to cry. The music therapist, working in an
improvisational model, music do which of the following?
1. Meet the child by playing music to express the intensity of her crying.
2. Reflect the child's sound and breathing with careful musical phrasing.
3. Comfort the child by holding and rocking her while singing soothing lyrics.
4. Sing without words so the child hears another voice that corresponds to how she is feeling. - CORRECT
ANSWER✅✅✅1, 2, and 4.
(1. When hearing music that reflects the intensity of her crying, the child feels accepted and a musical
relationship begins to form.
2. By reflecting the child's sounds and breathing with careful musical phrasing, the child becomes aware
that someone is listening to her and aware of her own sounds. She feels accepted and understood.
4. Since the child is nonverbal, singing without words can be an effective way to make a connection.
Crying often turns into tonal singing when supported by the therapist. Singing is a natural and
pleasurable form of expression for both the verbal and the nonverbal.
"Since her admission, Mary has spent most of her time in her room and has not participated in unit
activities." Under which assessment domain would this statement MOST likely be found? - CORRECT
ANSWER✅✅✅Psychosocial
, (Psychosocial refers to quantity and quality of interpersonal interaction.)
When playing a familiar song with a young client, what therapeutic exercises will most effectively
increase sustained attention? - CORRECT ANSWER✅✅✅Changing note duration
(This strategy to address attention control. This focuses on the basic auditory attention function of
making lengthening/augmenting the notes)
The last portion of a music therapy SOAP note discusses which of the following? - CORRECT
ANSWER✅✅✅Plan for treatment
(The four components are Subjective, Objective, Assessment, and Plan with the last component being
plan for how to continue to treat the client)
A song on the guitar in the key of C needs to be transposed to the key of Eb. Using first position fingering
in the key of C, the therapist needs to place the capo on the: - CORRECT ANSWER✅✅✅3rd fret
(Placing the capo on the 3rd fret would transpose the song to Eb major.)
Evidenced-based practice (EBP) principles require music therapists to take which of the following into
account when planning treatment? - CORRECT ANSWER✅✅✅best available research; patient
characteristics, culture and preferences; and clinical expertise
(The following statement as a policy of the American Psychological Association (APA) August 2005:
"Evidenced-based practice in psychology (EBPP) is the integration of the best available research with
clinical expertise in the context of patient characteristics, culture, and preferences." The AMTA adopted
the following definition of evidenced-based music therapy practice in 2010: "Evidenced-based music
therapy practice integrated the best available research, the music therapists' expertise, and the needs,
values, and preferences of the individual(s) served."
A music therapist working with a group of four children at an early intervention facility arrives to find
the class is very excited, having just come in from the playground. What is the most important
consideration when choosing a music selection to begin the session? - CORRECT ANSWER✅✅✅a
song with an allegro tempo
