The Structure of a Music Therapy Session

           During music therapy awareness month, we want to share some of the reasons why we believe music therapy is so successful. One of my favorite things about being a music therapist is the structure of each session. As music therapists, our goal is to create a session full of structure and familiarity with our clients that is also easily adaptable. As a Type A individual and lover of schedules and organization, this is obviously one of my favorite things!

            I also love that we often give our clients choices when creating their schedule. They are an active part in creating their own schedule and they feel a sense of gratification and improved self-esteem when they are asked to help and make their own choices. With many of my clients, I draw a box next to each activity and allow them to draw a smiley face in the box if they completed the task while following instructions. This is a great motivator for them as many of them take pride in something as simple as drawing a smiley-face! If they get all of their smiley-faces, at the end of the session they receive their “reward” which varies depending on the client.

A typical music therapy session looks like this:

·      Hello Song-We sing the same hello song in every session to provide structure and familiarity for our clients. Our hello songs work on appropriate greetings, eye contact, recall, and expressive language and they are typically sung to the tune of a familiar song.

·      Movement-We like to begin each session by getting oxygen to the brain so that our session will be more efficient.

·      Instrument Play-During instrument play we work on fine motor skills (isolation of fingers on piano and bells or grasping a mallet), gross motor skills (reaching up, crossing midline, playing the drum bilaterally), directional skills (up high, down low) and dynamics (play soft, loud, slow, fast).

·      Therapeutic Singing-Singing is an incredible way to disconnect from pain, disappointments and negative thoughts and release stored muscle tension that is built up in many of our clients for various reasons. It decreases the levels of cortisol (a stress hormone) in the blood stream and is a natural way to uplift our clients and make them feel happy.

·      Songwriting-Songwriting allows our clients to express themselves in a creative way. They will often open up to us if we are giving them musical support while providing a listening ear. Many times, songwriting helps children who have difficulty understanding emotions explore and discuss those emotions and talk about problem solving.

·      Goodbye-As with the hello song, we sing the same goodbye song to end with familiarity. This intervention also focuses on appropriate greetings, eye contact, recall and expressive language.

                                                                                   -Hayley Echols, LPMT, MT-BC

Music Therapy Awareness Month

It’s almost here!

March is Music Therapy Awareness month, and the Therabeat team couldn’t be more excited to spread music therapy advocacy and awareness with our community and beyond! We are so passionate about what we do, and we love MT awareness month because we get to set aside intentional time to share more about the field.

During the month of March we will be sharing music therapy research, information on what is going on at Therabeat, and some other fun surprises (stay tuned!). We will continue to share music therapy moments from our sessions so that you can see the growth and successes of our awesome kiddos!

What can you do to be a part of MT awareness?

Our goal is to share and spread correct and helpful information about music therapy with the general public. The more advocacy is spread, the more people know, receive, and benefit from music therapy. If you or a loved one has benefited from music therapy--help us share by:

●      Re-sharing research articles

●      Write a Facebook and Google review (write a google review by googling “Therabeat” or wherever you have received MT and give a review on the sidebar) and share how music therapy has benefited you or a family member

●      Refer those in need of MT in your community. We work hard to search for grants and waivers so that all patients referred can have an opportunity for treatment!

What is Music Therapy?

This is the big question! There are many misconceptions about what music therapy is and what it isn’t. Check out this link from the American Music Therapy Association (AMTA) to help answer this question. As always, we are available and LOVE to answer questions about MT as well!

http://www.musictherapy.org/about/musictherapy/

Thank you all for helping to spread MT awareness--we are excited for the month of March!!

-Perry Wright LPMT, MT-BC

Final Internship Blog

As my internship comes to an end, I am reminded of how thankful and blessed I am to be a part of such an awesome team. I am thankful for my short time at Therabeat and my how time flies! It is bittersweet as I think of the lives I have grown to be a part of and families I have gotten to know and love, but in a couple short weeks I will be board certified music therapist. What an accomplishment! I want to especially thank the whole In Harmony team. Each one of those wonderful ladies are incredible to work with. They are full of knowledge and encouraging words daily that got me where I am now. I had the privilege of observing and even co-treating with occupational, physical, and speech therapy, which helped me to better meet the needs of children as a music therapist. I am also thankful for my loving and supportive family and fiancée. It hasn’t been the easiest being six hours away, but they never stopped encouraging me. All in all, I cannot be more excited to be able to spread the joy of music therapy in my hometown of Mobile, Alabama. All thanks to my awesome internship!

Final Internship Blog

Time flies when you’re having fun! I cannot believe that my time as a music therapy intern is coming to an end. It seems like just yesterday that I had my orientation and met my sweet co-intern, Aubrey. Many things have happened since I began my internship. I have had the opportunity to see children grow in their confidence through performing for others, I have had the sweet privilege of leading individual sessions, group sessions at “The Carpenter’s Shop” pre-school and Blue Ridge Mountain Recovery Center and much more! I was able to accompany one of the kiddos at Riverfest…AND….I GOT MARRIED!!! Whoa! A big life change there! But my husband has been extremely supportive of me during my internship and he even serves as my guinea pig when I am excited about trying a new intervention with a patient the next day.

This internship experience has really been a dream come true. I cannot explain how blessed I feel to genuinely enjoy my work each day and to be surrounded by a team of people with such wisdom, knowledge & experience. That is why I am overjoyed to have the opportunity to officially become part of the team once I am board-certified and licensed!

It is almost Thanksgiving…so I will share a few things that I am thankful for:

• The beautiful children that have taught me about patience, compassion and determination and who have allowed me to grow as a music therapist without even realizing the impact they’ve made on my life.
• The parents of these children who entrusted me to work with their children knowing that I was in the midst of a learning process and growth period.
• The Therabeat team who has guided me well and stretched me out of my comfort zone so that I could soak up as much music therapy knowledge as possible.
• The entire team at In Harmony Pediatric Therapy who has been so welcoming and helpful in teaching me more about PT, OT and Speech Therapy.
• The gift of music and how it reaches people that some never thought could be reached.

The Use of ABA in Music Therapy

Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) is an approach used with children with communication and language disorders. Dr. Hayoung Lim, Director of Music Therapy at Oral Roberts University, focused on using music therapy and Applied Behavior Analysis to increase language and communication skills. In Applied Behavior Analysis all behaviors, including verbal behavior, contains three distinct parts:

• The antecedent – what causes the behavior, or events that lead up to a resulting behavior
• The behavior
• The consequence of the behavior – the result of a performed behavior.

Using these three distinctions, the therapist establishes a pattern of circumstances resulting in identified behaviors. Therapists use strong motivational variables to elicit the desired behavior. This acts as a reward for the child.  Since music provides a natural structure, it allows it to be a solid antecedent and a strong reinforcement or reward for children with communication and language disorders. Music may also function as an automatic reinforcer, which means the child may respond naturally to musical stimuli without prompting to obtain the desired behavior.

To incorporate ABA techniques in a music therapy session, I created a visual schedule to provide clear structure for the child. By utilizing visual strengths, this provides a receptive communication system to increase understanding. When using the picture schedule, children are able to see what happens first, next, and last, while also providing them with the opportunity to make choices. A reward chosen by the child is placed at the end of the session to reinforce the positive behavior. Using ABA techniques in a music therapy setting assists in learning how to communicate appropriately all while creating positive music experiences.