Music Therapy FAQs

Music Therapy is the clinical and evidence-based use of prescribed music interventions to accomplish individualized goals within a therapeutic relationship by a credentialed professional who has completed an approved music therapy program. In other words, music therapy uses evidence-based approaches to help people reach a wide range of non-musical goals.

Research demonstrates that music therapy, integrated into a care plan, may improve health outcomes and quality of life. Through developing individual potential and improving intrapersonal and/or interpersonal integration, music therapy addresses a person’s cognitive, emotional, physical, social, and spiritual needs. Please note that music therapy does not claim to cure or prolong life in the medical sense.

The human ability and need to respond to music is innate, is not dependent on musical ability or training, and usually remains unimpaired by mental and physical illnesses. Music has a unique power among the therapeutic media to engage and sustain the attention of patients and, in the hands of a certified and trained therapist, accomplish a variety of therapeutic goals and objectives.

• Community – corporatations, senior centers, schools, day care facilities, parent/child groups, and bereavement groups
• Medical – hospitals, clinics, nursing homes, assisted living facilities, psychiatric facilities, hospice, and patients’ homes
• Music Wellness Center
• Rehabilitation – medical rehabilitation facilities, substance abuse treatment facilities, eating disorder treatment facilities, halfway houses, group homes, outpatient clinics, and correctional facilities
• Wellness – health spas, yoga studios, and wellness centers

Healthy people benefit from music therapy through:

• Developing a peer support network
• Learning relaxation techniques
• Maintenance of vital physical exercise
• Socialization and fun recreation
• Stress reduction through active music making, such as drumming
• Stress reduction through passive listening

Check out current wellness classes at the Music Wellness Center through our partner agency, Resounding Joy.

As an increasingly supported field of treatment, insurance companies are recognizing the advantages of including music therapy as a covered benefit. Music therapy is similar to other health professions like occupational and physical therapy in that patients must be individually assessed and are then pre-approved for coverage or reimbursement when music therapy is deemed medically necessary to reach the treatment goals of the individual patient. Reimbursement for services is available in a large variety of health care settings with patients with varying diagnoses. Check with your health insurance provider and we will gladly help with the assessments and required documentation.

The use of music as a healing influence to affect health and behavior is as least as old as the writings of Aristotle and Plato. However, the 20th-century discipline began during World War I, when both amateur and professional musicians of all types visited veterans’ hospitals to perform for the thousands suffering physical and emotional war traumas. Hospitals soon realized that musicians required training prior to entering medical facilities, leading Michigan State University to create the first music therapy degree program in the world in 1944.

In 1950, the National Association for Music Therapy (NAMT) chartered its membership. In 1971, the American Association for Music Therapy (AAMT) developed. And in 1998, the two groups joined forces to form the American Music Therapy Association Inc. (AMTA), now representing more than 7,000 music therapists, corporate members, and related associations worldwide.

In 1985, the World Federation of Music Therapy Inc. (WFMT) formed to improve the health and well-being of individuals and populations worldwide through music interventions, promote and develop music therapy as an art and science, and support the global development of clinical practice, education, and research to demonstrate its impact on and contribution to society.