Let's explore some frequently asked questions about music therapy.
What is music therapy?
Music Therapy is 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)
The American Music Therapy Associations fosters two publication sources for the sharing of music therapy research, though research is also present in journals such as: NCCIH Clinical Digest, APA, Journal of Substance Use & Addiction Treatment, Cancer Research UK and more!
Who can benefit from music therapy?
I always say that music therapists can be found doing great work pre-birth to post-death. Musicians and non-musicians alike can equally benefit from engaging in our therapeutic process. We can work with you toward, or in support of social, communication, emotional, physical, developmental, and cognitive goals.
Is music therapy a new profession?
The idea of music as a healing influence which could affect health and behavior is as least as old as the writings of Aristotle and Plato. The 20th century discipline began after World War I and World War II when community musicians of all types, both amateur and professional, went to Veterans hospitals around the country to play for the thousands of veterans suffering both physical and emotional trauma from the wars. The patients' notable physical and emotional responses to music led the doctors and nurses to request the hiring of musicians by the hospitals. It was soon evident that the hospital musicians needed some prior training before entering the facility and so the demand grew for a college curriculum. The first music therapy degree program in the world, founded at Michigan State University in 1944, celebrated its 50th anniversary in 1994. The American Music Therapy Association was founded in 1998 as a union of the National Association for Music Therapy and the American Association for Music therapy.
(American Music Therapy Association)
Who is qualified to practice music therapy?
Persons who complete one of the approved college music therapy curricula (including an internship to complete clinical training) are then eligible to sit for the national examination offered by the Certification Board for Music Therapists. Music therapists who successfully complete the independently administered examination hold the music therapist-board certified credential (MT-BC).
(American Music Therapy Association)
