CIMTR Public Lecture: Analysing Cortisol from Hair Samples in Music Therapy Research

Join us online to hear from Dr Rachael Finnerty on her work measuring the effects of music therapy using cortisol levels in hair samples.

Cortisol is a known biomarker of the experience of stress. It is often collected in research via blood samples or saliva samples pre-post an intervention, or to compare an intervention group to a control group.

Collecting data about changes in cortisol levels via blood or saliva can be useful if you are interested in individual cortisol levels in the present moment. But what if you want to know the long-term impact of engaging in music therapy on stress? Cortisol from hair samples provides a retrospective view of cortisol released by the HPA axis. Each centimetre of hair growth from the scalp is representative of approximately the last four weeks of cortisol release.

In this presentation, Dr Finnerty will discuss the relevance of cortisol in music therapy research in addition to collecting data from standardised psychometric questionnaires and qualitative data. She will also share the results of two published randomised controlled studies that collected cortisol via hair samples to explore the effectiveness of group music therapy to manage undergraduate university students’ stress. Finally, this presentation will share the benefits and challenges of collecting hair samples for cortisol analysis in music therapy research.

Articles to be discussed:

Finnerty, R. and Trainor, L. (2025) 'Group music therapy for the proactive management of stress and anxiety', PLOS Ment Health 2(8), e0000312. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmen.0000312

Finnerty, R., McWeeny. S. and Trainor, L. (2023) 'Online group music therapy: proactive management of undergraduate students’ stress and anxiety', Front. Psychiatry, 14, 1183311. Available at: https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2023.1183311

Speaker

Dr Rachael Finnerty is a Registered Psychotherapist and a Credentialed Music Therapist in Ontario Canada. She is a 2001 alumna of the ARU Master Music Therapy program, and completed her PhD research with Dr Laurel Trainor, in the department of Psychology, Neuroscience and Behaviour.

Rachael’s research focuses on the use of music therapy for proactive wellness. She has been teaching about music therapy at McMaster University since 2010 and currently teaches over 5000 students each academic year.

In addition to research and teaching, Rachael if the founder of the Music Therapy Academy, a professional development resource for music therapists and other healthcare professionals. Additionally, she is the co-founder of Resonia – a digital music therapy platform.

View Dr Finnerty's Google Scholar profile.

This event is part of the CIMTR Public Lecture Series 2026-27.