What is music therapy?
Music Therapy is the use of music by board-certified music therapists to address physical, emotional, cognitive, social, and spiritual needs of individuals of all ages. Because music therapy is a non-threatening, flexible medium, it is a powerful tool to elicit positive change. Professionally trained music therapists are able to design experiences for a variety of populations based upon functional abilities and needs. No musical talent or experience is necessary to benefit from music therapy.

When a non-music therapist provides music in a healing environment, it is supportive music.

What is the training for a music therapist?
There are approximately 75 colleges and universities in the US that offer a degree in music therapy. Music therapists complete a Bachelors, Masters, or PhD program (in addition to a 6-month clinical internship) at one of the American Music Therapy Association’s accredited colleges or universities. Following curricula, music therapists pass the national certification exam and hold the music therapist-board certified credential (MT-BC).

In the standard curriculum, music therapists take 60% music courses with 40% behavioral sciences, psychology, and anatomy/physiology. Music therapists learn the importance of the therapist-client relationship, how to build rapport with the client, how to follow systematic steps for successful client transformation, and how to apply these steps with a variety of populations using an enormous variety of music interventions.

Who receives music therapy?
Music therapists provide services to individuals and groups within medical, psychiatric, education, wellness, and recreational settings. Some more specific settings follow:

Hospitals ~ inpatient/outpatient, adults children & infants
Older adults ~ independent, assisted, skilled nursing, and Alzheimer’s/dementia
Neurological disorders ~ Parkinson’s disease, stroke
Developmental disabilities
Sensory impairments
Chemical dependency and substance abuse
Psychiatric and/or mood disorders

What does music therapy look like?
Music therapy techniques include (but are not exclusive to) active music-making, song-writing, relaxation with music, movement to music, and rhythmic entrainment. Music therapists are trained to assess the client, develop and implement a treatment plan, evaluate client’s progress, modify the treatment plan according to evaluation, and work in an interdisciplinary team. In addition, all music therapists must study a primary instrument and are proficient on guitar, piano, and voice.

What does the research say?
The body of music therapy literature is prolific, spanning 5 decades of quantitative research that focuses on a variety of techniques with a variety of populations. Music therapy researchers publish in the Journal of Music Therapy, Music Therapy Perspectives, and journals in the fields of behavioral science, medicine, cognition, and neuroscience. For instance, I have posted a snapshot of the MT research on infants in a NICU here.