What is Music Therapy?
Music therapy involves the provision of music experiences for the purposes of enhancing and optimizing aspects of a person’s health. A board-certified music therapist is specially trained to assess client needs and offer music experiences that promote physical, cognitive, emotional, social, and spiritual growth.
How Can Music Therapy Help?
Music is special. Many people have a personal relationship with music, and turn to music when they need comfort, validation, and support. Music is able to “sound out” the wide range of human emotion, and hold layers of meaning like no other modality.
Music engages the right hemisphere of the brain, which activates the imagination and intuition. As an experiential modality, music therapy holds possibilities for self-exploration, where new awareness and discoveries emerge and become vehicles for positive changes. In other words, music therapy can help move a person into experiencing themselves more fully and completely.
How Would I Get Started?
First, you will meet with your music therapist and discuss your goals for therapy. Then, they will describe possible music therapy modalities that could meet your needs and answer your questions. Your music therapist will take time to really get to know you and go at your pace. You can dive right in or take time to gradually move into the music.
Some people wonder if they have to be “musical,” and this is not the case. If you feel like you connect with music and that music plays a role in your life, music therapy could be a good fit for you.
Music Therapy Modalities
The Bonny Method of Guided Imagery and Music: This is a depth-oriented modality that involves listening to 30-45 minutes of classical music, and experiencing imagery in response to the music. The client reports the images, feelings, sensations, or memories as they occur and the therapist helps the client fully engage in the experience. The client can gain new perspectives on issues, new awareness of strengths, awakened creativity, and a renewed sense of energy. Engaging through metaphor, difficult issues may be more manageable to work with, such as depression, grief, and trauma.
Focused Music and Imagery: This modality works with one emotion, theme, or idea. The client and therapist discuss the focus beforehand. The client spends time reflecting on the focus, with the support of a gentle piece of music, and then continues their experience either journaling or drawing. Increased self-understanding and insight can help lead to therapeutic gains.
Other listening experiences: Your music therapist may suggest music listening experiences for stress and/or anxiety relief, mindfulness, improvement in focus, and affirmative thinking.
There’s so much more to music therapy! The beauty of music therapy is that it is tailored to meet the needs of the unique individual, and so the music experiences may take shape in the moment through collaboration between client and therapist. Other possibilities for music therapy include creating playlists, song discussion, making a song autobiography, composing music, improvising, and vocal work.
For More Information
Youtube videos and websites that explain Guided Imagery and Music:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NIdtMOd8k8A
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7AK5v6AsXdw
https://ami-bonnymethod.org/about/faq
Scientific Basis for Music Therapy
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2LOMwdP4Dno
Music Therapy and Mental Health TEDx
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-io-uld2JFU
For more information on the profession and certification: