WHAT IS MUSIC THERAPY?

Music Therapy is the prescribed use of music and musical interventions by a qualified Music Therapist in order to achieve a non-musical goal.

Music Therapists work with a wide range of clinical populations and ages addressing their needs to restore, maintain, and improve skills in the areas of Speech/Language, Motor, Cognition, Emotion and Behavior.

Music Therapy is an established health care profession that affects the lives of thousands of children and adults each year. It is a creative, flexible and sometimes spontaneous means of using the appeal of music to help people of all ages and abilities.

Some of the qualifications for interventions to be defined as “music therapy” are:
 1. The intervention is prescribed by members of the client's treatment team. Members can include doctors, social workers, psychologists, teachers, case workers, or parents.
 2. The use of music as the primary therapeutic tool. Music promotes a trusting relationship in which the music therapist can work to improve the client's physical and mental functioning through carefully structured activities. Examples can include singing, listening, playing instruments, composition, moving to music, and music and imagery exercises.
3. The intervention is administered by a trained music therapist. A music therapist's education and training is extensive. Musical interventions are developed and used by the therapist based on his/her knowledge of the music's affect on behavior, the client's strengths and weaknesses, and the therapeutic goals.

NOTE: Music therapy works towards specific therapeutic goals and objectives. Goal areas include communicative, academic, motor, emotional, and social skills. It is important to be aware that while clients may develop their musical skills during treatment, these skills are not the primary concern of the therapist. Rather it is the affect such musical development might have on the client's physical, psychological and socio-economical functioning. Becoming a Board-Certified Music Therapist requires the successful completion of four years of academic course-work, a six-month internship, and the National Board Certification Exam.
 
Academic course-work includes a thorough study of music theory and academia, psychology of music, music in therapy, influence of music on behavior, psychology, and anatomy and physiology. Clinical fieldwork may include patient assessment, designing treatment goals and objectives and evaluating patient progress.