Joke Bradt, PhD, is professor and program director of the PhD in Creative Arts Therapies program and a board-certified music therapist. Her federally funded research has focused on the use of music therapy for chronic pain and symptom management. She has been the principal investigator of three NIH-funded studies on music therapy for chronic pain management. She has also conducted several studies on music therapy with military service members funded by the National Endowment for the Arts. Details about her funded research can be found on her lab’s page.

She has presented her clinical work and research findings extensively at national and international conferences and has authored and co-authored a large number of music therapy articles, book chapters and Cochrane Systematic Reviews. She is the editor-in-chief of the Nordic Journal of Music Therapy.

Academic Distinctions

2014 Drexel University STAR Teachers Award

2014 American Music Therapy Association Research and Publication Award

2017 Drexel University College of Nursing and Health Professions Teaching Excellence Award

Professional Society

American Music Therapy Association
Mixed Methods International Research Association
Full research member of the Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center at Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia

Selected Publications

Bradt, J, Dileo, C, Myers-Coffman, K, Biondo, J. Music interventions for improving psychological and physical outcomes in people with cancer. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 2021, Issue 10. Art. No.: CD006911. DOI: 10.1002/14651858.CD006911.pub4.

Bryl, K., Wenger, S., Banz, D, Terry, G., Ballester, D., Bailey, C., Bradt, J. (2021). Power over pain – An interprofessional approach to chronic pain: Program feedback from a medically underserved community. Journal of Evaluation in Clinical Practice, 27(6), 1223-1234. DOI: 10.1111/jep.13552

Low, M., Lacson, C., Zhang, F., Kesslick, A., & Bradt, J. (2020). Vocal music therapy for chronic pain: A mixed methods feasibility study. The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine, 26(2), 113-122. https://doi.org/10.1089/acm.2019.0249.

Bradt, J., Biondo, J., & Vaudreuil, R. (2019). Songs created by military service members in music therapy: A retrospective analysis. The Arts in Psychotherapy, 62, 19-27. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aip.2018.11.004.

Bradt, J., Potvin, N., Kesslick, A., Shim, M., Radl, D., Schriver, E., Gracely, E., & Komarnicky-Kocher, L. T. (2015). The impact of music therapy versus music medicine on psychological outcomes and pain in cancer patients: A mixed methods study. Supportive Care in Cancer, 23(5), 1261-1271. doi: 10.1007/s00520-014-2478-7.

Grant participation:

Music Therapy versus Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy for Cancer-related Anxiety (MELODY) (PCORI, $3.3M, PI: Dr. Jun Mao, Role: co-PI)

Group Music Therapy for Chronic Pain Management in Service Members with Co-Morbid Chronic Pain and Mild Traumatic Brain Injury (National Endowment for the Arts, $287,500, PI)

Mechanisms of Music Therapy to Palliate Pain in Patients with Advanced Cancer (National Institute of Nursing Research, R01NR016681, PI)

The impact of music therapy on opioid use in cancer survivors with chronic pain (National Institute of Nursing Research, R01NR016681 Administrative Supplement, PI)

The Effects of Vocal Music Therapy on Core Outcomes in Chronic Pain Management: A Pilot Study (R03, National Institute for Nursing Research, R03NR013551, PI)

Editorial review board membership:

2009 – present, Editorial Board Member, Music and Medicine

2011 – present, Editorial Board Member, The Journal of Music Therapy

2016 – present, Editor, Nordic Journal of Music Therapy

Research Interests

Systematic reviews and meta-analysis, efficacy research and mechanistic studies of music therapy interventions with medical patients, mixed methods research.

View Research Profile

Specialization

Music therapy

PhD, Health Studies
Temple University
Philadelphia, PA

MMT, Music Therapy
Temple University
Philadelphia, PA

Master’s, Music Pedagogy
Temple University
Lemmensinstituut, Belgium