WHAT IS MUSIC THERAPY
Music Therapy is an established psychological clinical intervention to help people whose lives have been affected by injury, illness or disability through supporting their psychological, emotional, cognitive, physical, communicative and social needs.
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Music Therapists are required to hold a masters degree in Music Therapy and be registered with the Health Care Professions Council in order to practice or offer Music Therapy.
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Music offers us a way to connect and communicate in ways that words cannot. This is especially useful with people who have difficulty in articulating or verbalising their experiences or emotions.
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Music Therapy is essentially very similar to psychotherapy with the main difference being that music and musical experiences are the main modalities as appose to what is known as a 'talking' therapy. This does not mean that talking is not also used; many people need several sessions of talking before they are confident enough to engage in music and this is totally fine, no musical experience or skill is required to engage in Music Therapy.
Music Therapy can look very different depending on the clients' needs. Some clients such as the elderly or less mobile may require more receptive methods, such as listening to songs played by the therapist to access feelings and memories. Other clients may benefit from taking part in improvised music-making on a range of instruments with the therapist, or even in writing songs and expressing themselves through lyrics.
See below for more information on how music therapy can help different populations or visit the BAMT information portal.
Adults &
The Elderly
