What is music therapy? Music therapists help people at all stages of life, from newborns to late in life. In fact, there are music therapists who are in the room when people first enter the world and music therapists who are present when people leave. We work in many “domains”: cognitive, communicative, emotional, physical, social, spiritual.
We are trained as musicians as well as music therapists and we are creative. That means that if a client brings us a concern, we can find a way to address it musically. Some of the ways we can use music within a session include creating improvised music with a client, songwriting, sharing favourite music, analyzing the lyric or musical content of a song to find meaning, moving to music, and creating musical experiences to affect our client’s physiological state (such as heart rate, and blood pressure).
Music can act as another language or way to communicate for those who do not use conventional language. Sharing or making music together can allow a client to feel heard. Personalized tools (such as playlists) can be used by the client away from therapy.