Music Therapy
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. (The American Music Therapy Association)
Mary Raunikar Page is qualified to practice music therapy in the United Kingdom through the Health and Care Professional Council and in the United States through the Certification Board of Music Therapists. She is currently employed by Barchester Healthcare and provides services to people under Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards, Section 3, and Neuro Rehabilitation.
Frequently Asked Questions
If I volunteer to play an instrument in a care home, is that music therapy?
Volunteer music in a care home or hospital, such as harp music or guitar-led singalongs, does count as therapeutic intervention, but not music therapy. Well-meaning musicians often make this mistake by presenting their charity as music therapy when the professional name is actually protected by law. Music therapy is a health care profession, meaning we conduct assessments, keep track of your progress through goals and objectives, and often work with a team of other professionals. If you are in the UK, always check that your music therapist is registered with HCPC for quality, ethical care.
Who can receive music therapy?
You may be familiar with the testimonials about children with autism and learning disabilities benefitting from music therapy. Care home residents singing for the first time in a long while are also at the top of our most beloved case studies. Music therapists are trained to improve the quality of life of clients who suffer from any obstacles, setbacks, or disabilities. This can also include mental illness and the necessary preventative care. Overall, anyone can receive music therapy because anyone's quality of life can be improved through a creative arts medium. My personal and professional goal is to make humans across the country aware that they can turn to creative arts therapies as a way to maintain their overall health.
What happens in a music therapy session?
This depends entirely on the goals of the client, as well as the approach of the music therapist. There are many different models of music therapy for different populations. An individual utilizing Neurologic Music Therapy to rehabilitate their fine motor skills after a traumatic brain injury is going to have a different set of goals than someone seeking Insight-Oriented Music Therapy for post-traumatic stress disorder. Some music therapists like a more structured session while others defer to the path of free improvisation. Again, this will depend on what the client needs. Every music therapist will start with an assessment and follow with a timed set of objectives. Over the course of these sessions, the music therapist will keep track of whether or not these objectives are met and report this to you and the rest of your health care team. Termination occurs either when the contract has expired, the client has met his/her goals, or the music therapist decides the client is not obtaining any decided or changed objectives.
How would music therapy work for me if I have no musical experience or 'inclination'?
Participation in music therapy does NOT require any prior training on the part of the client. Session content will be different between someone who has never touched an instrument and someone who has performed on a professional level. However, every human brain responds globally to organized sound, and that is why music is therapy in the first place. Very much can be determined from how a client hits a drum or fiddles with the piano keys, even in a group setting with many different skill levels. We can all create and contribute something with patterned sound, given the proper space and feeling of safety.