Music Therapy
What is Music Therapy
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." (American Music Therapy Association definition, 2005)
Music has been used as a therapeutic tool for centuries. Music therapy has been recognized as an organized profession since the formation of the National Association for Music Therapy in 1950. Today, music therapists work with many different populations in various setting. In each of these settings, music is used as a tool to reach nonmusical goals, whether physical, cognitive, emotional, social or spiritual. The techniques used during sessions are based on research and extended collegiate study.
Among many possible goals addressed by music therapists might be:
- Increasing memory recall
- Improving motor coordination
- Increasing attention to task
- Improving steadiness of gait
- Developing bonds between mother and newborn child
- Improving speech and communication
- Increasing reality-based thinking
- Decreasing anxiety
- Decreasing pain
- Adjusting mood
- Increasing coping skills
Some of the various settings in which music therapists work include:
- Special Education Programs and Special Schools
- Nursing Homes
- Medical Hospitals
- Rehabilitation Centers
- Hospice and Palliative Care Programs
- Psychiatric Hospitals
- Private Practices and Music Therapy Agencies