Music Therapy

 There are many definitions of music therapy because of the breadth of its application. Our professional organization, The American Music Therapy Association, defines music therapy as:

“The clinical and evidence-based use of music interventions to accomplish individualized goals within a therapeutic relationship by a credentialed professional who has completed an approved music therapy program.”

As a leader in the field, Ken Bruscia (1998) says that music therapy “is a systematic process of intervention wherein the therapist helps the client to promote health, using music experiences and the relationship that develops through them as dynamic forces of change.” (p. 20)

The main elements of music therapy are the qualities of sound that comprise music (tone, timbre, tempo, pitch, rhythm, articulation, mode, melody, harmony, etc.), and how these elements are used to influence bio-psycho-social-spiritual aspects of an individual.  The relationship that develops through various music experiences acts as the field in which client and therapist create goals, address issues, and explore desires.

The most common experiences in music therapy sessions are improvisation, listening, re-creating (performing), and songwriting.  Each of these processes involves various aspects of cognitive, sensorimotor, emotional, and spiritual resources, which makes it a dynamic therapy modality covering many domains.

 Music therapy can be used for:

Early Intervention --- Developmental Delays --- Neurological Impairments --- Mood/Behavior/Personality Disorders --- Emotional Expression --- Depression --- Cancer --- Heart Disease --- Pain Management --- Neonatal Intensive Care --- Autism Spectrum Disorder ---Schizophrenia --- Stress Management --- Anxiety --- Substance Abuse --- Labor and Delivery --- Gross/Fine Motor Rehabilitation --- Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) --- Dementia, Parkinson's, Alzheimer's, and many more.

Music therapy is also a form of creative psychotherapy.  Treatment orientations in which music therapy coincides are:

Art Therapy --- Existential --- Experiential Therapy --- Expressive Arts --- Family/Marital --- Gestalt --- Humanistic --- Integrative --- Interpersonal --- Jungian --- Person Centered --- Play Therapy --- Positive Psychology --- Psychoanalytic --- Psychodynamic --- Somatic --- Strength Based --- Transpersonal

Personal development, explorations of the psyche, self-actualization, peak-experience, and spiritual  development are common goals in music psychotherapy.  An application of a music intervention, for any specific goal, does not exclude the possibility of growth and development in all aspect's of a person's life.