Music Therapy

Music therapy is the use of music in a clinical setting to achieve therapeutic goals, delivered by music therapists who are trained musicians that have completed an accredited music therapy program. It is a broad field that uses music-based experiences, built from elements such as melody, harmony, rhythm and timbre, to address needs across cognitive, emotional, behavioral, communication, social, physical and other domains of functioning, and it is practiced in settings including medical hospitals, cancer centers, schools, psychiatric hospitals, nursing homes and addiction recovery programs. Common practices include developmental work with people who have special needs, songwriting and reminiscence work, orientation work with elderly patients, and rhythmic exercises used in physical rehabilitation after stroke, and studies have associated it with improvements in conditions including anxiety, depression and schizophrenia, though music therapists in most countries, including the United States, do not diagnose mental disorders themselves.