What is Music Therapy?

Put simply, music therapy is the use of music to work on emotional, functional, and academic goals. These goals are wide ranging from motor skill needs to language development to emotional expression and coping skills.

Music Therapy is administered by a board-certified (and licensed in some states) music therapist. A board-certified music therapist (MT-BC) has attended a music therapy program where they completed four practicums followed by a six month internship at approved internships sites throughout the country. After their internship they have then successfully passed their board-certification exams. A music therapist also participates in continuing education where they submit 100 hours of continuing education every 5 years in order to keep their certification current.

You can find music therapists in a wide range of settings. These locations include hospitals, children's hospitals, prisons, jails, nursing homes, public school systems, eating disorder recovery centers, psychiatric hospitals, acute rehabilitation, private practice, cancer centers, and many more locations.

I first learned about music therapy when my grandpa was diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease. He was a very active man and when he received the diagnosis he and my grandma immediately began searching for all the therapies and options that could help slow the progression. He ended up attending group music therapy for two hours a week. One session was a drumming session and the following session was a traditional music therapy session where they worked on gait training, singing, and instrument play. As his disease progressed these sessions were the things that brought him back to us for a moment. He would go in, struggling to communicate and speak in time in a conversation with the family then afterwards his brain synapses were firing on time and he was speaking in time with us. The sessions also brought him and my family so much joy, it was always adaptable and inclusive to him as he continued to decline and allowed him to participate and engage with a group that understood him. I am so thankful for everything music therapy provided for my grandpa and my family during that season of life. He passed away in the fall of 2013 during my first semester of grad school for music therapy.

I have first hand experienced the help and joy music therapy can provide to a loved one and I continue to take that role now as the therapist very seriously for my clients. Follow along on this blog as I continue to breakdown more technical information about how music effects various parts of our brain, I am sure I will tell you more about my grandpa along the way as well.