Category: Special Education

It’s time to feature another Frequently Asked Music Therapy Question. What does a music therapy session actually look like? What happens in a session and if my classroom is able to get the funding for music therapy, what would my students actually be doing?

All great questions. I actually had a special education teacher ask me at the beginning on this school year if I had this written down somewhere and I was surprised when I realized I didn’t. So now it is officially in writing.

Music Therapy sessions are always goal driven and so what actually happens in the session will vary greatly depending on the needs and level of participation of the students. However, the structure and format of a music therapy session are almost always the same.

Gathering Song

To begin each session, we need a song to say hello and gather us together. Sometimes, we will sings hello to all of the group members and other times doesn’t address each member, but the purpose of the song is the same. It is used to bring everyone together and gather the group to begin music. Sometimes the Gathering Song includes instruments for the students to take turns or share and support peer social interactions. Other times, a Gathering Song would include Body Percussion like clapping hands, patting knees, or stamping feet.

Goal Driven Music Experiences

Depending on the group goals, the music experiences in the session may include a variety of music therapy strategies and interventions.

Here are some goal areas and examples of music therapy strategies our music therapists may use:

• Increasing joint attention (group members all focused on the same thing at the same time) – we may do more body percussion and imitating body movements.
• Increasing verbal expressions – we may do some improvisational singing on syllables and other sounds.
• Developing appropriate social skills – we may do a song with questions and answers, asking each other how your day was.
• Increasing Receptive Language Skills – we may use instruments to work on following simple instructions.
• Developing Skills to Participate in Groups – we may use songwriting as a way to work collaboratively as a group towards a goal such as completing a song or recording a CD.

Cool Down

I often include a Cool Down in the music therapy sessions to bring us all back to a quiet place after a lot of intense effort on our goal areas. In some sessions, this is active listening to quiet guitar music and in other sessions, it may be a movement activity with scarves. Either way, the purpose is to bring us back to a quiet place, relax our bodies and our minds, and prepare us for the transition to say goodbye.

Closing Song

A closing song tells everyone in the group that our music time is finished and we are transitioning to the next activity. We say goodbye to each other in the song structure and then if it’s appropriate we will stand up and move on to the next thing in the music making it a seamless musical transition. This is often very helpful and successful in classrooms that have a difficult time transitioning.

So there you have it, an outline for a 30-45 minute music therapy session. If you have questions about specific music therapy strategies and ideas that would work for your classroom, please call our office at 781-224-3300, or email us at info@romanmusictherapy.com.

By: Meredith Roman Pizzi, MT-BC

This month, I have been asked a number of times by parents, “What does my child need to know or be able to do to participate in music therapy?”  Since the question has come up a few times, I thought it might be helpful to answer the question here.

What Does My Child Need to Know?

Nothing!  There is no prerequisite for successful participation in music therapy.  The Board Certified Music Therapists at Roman Music Therapy Services work from a client centered music therapy approach.  In this model of therapeutic treatment, a client participates as they are and the music therapist uses the tools of music to meet the client and their needs.  The client does not need to do anything!  Where the client is is where they are, and the music therapist’s job is to meet the client in that place and help them to move towards their educational and therapeutic goals in the music.

Does My Child Need to Have Previous Music Experience to Benefit from Music Therapy?

Your child does not need to have any specific music experience on an instrument.  If there is a particular affinity towards an instrument, than that can certainly be incorporated. Sometimes children that have had lessons on a particular instrument can use that skill in their music therapy session, however knowledge or skill level on an instrument is not necessary for successful participation in music therapy.

The services we currently offer include music therapy sessions for individuals and groups which address the client’s most pressing therapeutic needs.  At times it may be appropriate to address musical skills in order to increase confidence or to participate in a social context. For other clients, it is more appropriate to play a variety of instruments within the music therapy session.  These approaches to learning an instrument are goal oriented and focus on non-musical goal areas, which is different from learning how to play an instrument to increase musical skill.

Some music therapists do offer adapted music lessons.  At this time, Roman Music Therapy Services is not able to offer adapted music lessons due to scheduling concerns.  Hopefully, we will be able to offer both group and individual adapted music lessons in the future.

Parents often call me looking for music therapy services because they know that their child “loves” music.  They recognize that music is something, or sometimes the one thing, that their child responds to consistently.  Maybe the child is singing songs but not using a lot of language, or maybe the child plays instruments with an apparent awareness of musicality.

If your child is drawn to music, music therapy may be the next step to helping your child reach new levels of achievement.

If your child does not tolerate music well and gets upset when music is playing, music therapy can help to integrate and process musical stimulus so that the child can function better in all environments.

Music is a form of communication which encourages meaningful interpersonal relationships and interaction that goes beyond verbal skills.  It allows for opportunities to process experiences musically and verbally through listening to songs and songwriting.  Music therapy is an expressive and creative process which allows many opportunities for growth.

Not every child needs music therapy, but most children will benefit from music therapy services.

Can I try out a music therapy session?

Absolutely! The best way to find out if music therapy would benefit your child is to come to a session.  With the new year just around the corner, call us at 781-224-3300 to schedule a visit to a Sprouting Melodies group or our Afterschool Music Therapy Groups.

Check out Sprouting Melodies, our early childhood music program, or read about our Afterschool Groups.