What is Music Therapy?
Music Therapy uses a range of musical interventions to assist clients in accessing a range of therapeutic benefits through creative and emotive expressions. It is conducted by a qualified Music Therapist who is trained in different musical instruments, songwriting, singing, and counselling. Clients can expect to be led through a range of activities that activate the creative and abstract parts of their brains such as improvisation, music-facilitated life review, singing and instrument-playing, lyric analysis, and music-facilitated emotional regulation. Music Therapy can be either active (making music) or passive (responding to others music) and can be done in individual or group therapy sessions.
Music therapy is an empowering practice that imparts increased resilience, emotional skills, confidence, self-knowledge, and the added bonus of a new musical hobby.
Targeted psychotherapeutic interventions are employed, just like in regular talk therapy, by the qualified Music Therapist throughout each session to address the client’s presenting concerns. A plan will be drawn up at the beginning of therapy and updated throughout the journey to assure client’s goals are seeing positive progress.
Who is Music Therapy for?
It is especially useful for clients who have a developmental condition, brain injury, or have difficulty communicating verbally due to emotional discomfort. However, it also increases motor function, imparts new creative skills, and improves self-confidence.
Do you currently offer Music Therapy?
We currently do not offer Music Therapy, however we wish to expand into this space. We are taking Expressions of Interest to determine the demand in this offering. If we gain enough interest we will start by offering Music Therapy workshops for a taste-tester and 1:1 Music Therapy appointments.
How does Music Therapy work?
Music is a medium that requires a level of intuition which allows clients to access more subconscious emotional experiences and process them through creative art. It has been shown to affect emotions and moods as well as the physical body itself. Endorphins, cortisol, dopamine, blood pressure and heart-rate are all impacted upon listening to music. Many people use it as a therapeutic tool already to process emotions and communicate with others (just think about sharing old fashioned mixtapes or playlists with a crush in high school). Music Therapy is the natural extension of this.