Music Therapy

What is Music Therapy? 

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Music Therapy is an established psychological clinical intervention, delivered by HCPC registered music therapists to help people whose lives have been affected by injury, illness or disability through supporting their psychological, emotional, cognitive, physical, communicative and social needs.

Music Therapists draw upon the innate qualities of music to support people of all ages and abilities and at all stages of life; from helping new born babies develop healthy bonds with their parents, to offering vital, sensitive and compassionate palliative care at the end of life. 

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Central to how Music Therapy works is the therapeutic relationship that is established and developed, through engagement in live musical interaction and play between a therapist and client. A wide range of musical styles and instruments can be used, including the voice, and the music is often improvised. Using music in this way enables clients to create their own unique musical language in which to explore and connect with the world and express themselves.

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Who Can Benefit? 

Because musical participation and response does not depend solely on the ability to speak, Music Therapy is a particularly effective clinical intervention for people who have difficulty communicating verbally. For people affected by disability, illness or injury, working with music therapists can be life-changing. Children with autism can develop emotional, social and communication skills. Someone with an acquired brain injury as the result of an accident can be helped to regain their speech. An older person frightened by the isolation and confusion brought on by dementia can, through the powerfully evocative nature of music, connect with these memories again and share these with others.

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Music Therapists are Allied Health Professionals, and frequently work as members of multi-disciplinary teams in health, education or social care - or in private practice. There are currently Music Therapists throughout the UK working in settings with:

• Children and young people (including mainstream, SEN education, PRUs and looked after children/young people)

• Adults with Learning Disabilities

• Autistic Spectrum conditions

• Children, Adolescents and Adults in Mental Health settings

• Older people

• Neuro disability

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Quoted from BAMT website 

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