Supporting Music Therapy Sessions

Explore ways that you can support music therapy sessions for your loved one, patients, residents, or students.

 

Click the options below to see more:

What is Music Therapy?

Music Therapy is the clinical & evidence-based use of music interventions to accomplish individualized goals within a therapeutic relationship by a credentialed professional who has completed an approved music therapy program. Music therapy interventions can address a variety of healthcare & educational goals: 

  • Promote Wellness 
  • Manage Stress 
  • Alleviate Pain
  • Express Feelings 
  • Enhance Memory 
  • Improve Communication
  • Promote Physical Rehabilitation 
  • and more 

(American Music Therapy Association, 2005) 

Within sessions, music is utilized to address social, emotional, cognitive, communication, and physical needs.  

How Can You Help?

If you are in the session, you are part of the session! We like to include staff and caregivers into sessions as an added element of relationship building and social capital for the individuals and groups we serve. This is also an opportunity for you to absorb the benefits of music-based experiences and engage with your students, residents, patients or clients in a new meaningful way.

Here is a list of actions you can take within a session or experience to support the participants and the efforts of the music therapist:  

Instrument Playing 

  • If your participant is able, allow them to engage with an instrument in any way possible, as long as it is safe. Even if their playing stands out from the group or is personally displeasing to you, try not to discourage any exploration of the instruments.  
  • If your participant needs assistance to engage with an instrument, first provide space for them to try independently and then provide hand-under-hand assistance. Hand-under-hand rather than hand-over-hand support, encourages the participant to feel a sense of autonomy and potentially access the instrument independently.  
  • Play along! Having you play along not only can be enjoyable for you, but is a great way to model and encourage participation without physical or verbal intervention. While playing along, try to tune in to how the music therapist is playing and follow their lead (ie. Music therapist is playing a quiet “Goodbye” song which can be accompanied by quiet instrument playing) 
  • Watch this video for an example of how you can support instrument playing in sessions

Music Listening/ Song Sharing 

  • Encourage participants to request their preferred music or make a choice from familiar options presented by the music therapist. 
  • Try to notice what music/songs participants respond to outside of music therapy sessions and relay the song titles to the music therapist for it to be incorporated in to the experiences of the session.  
  • Be present! During music listening, stay present within the session and to the participant(s). In the same way that modeling instrument playing is helpful behavior, being on your cell phone or attending to other tasks can distract the participants and decrease involvement. Ask questions and keep personal opinions of shared music to yourself. Song sharing can be a vulnerable task for many participants and unsolicited, negative feedback may discourage them from speaking up and participating in the conversation. 

Singing 

  • Sing along! Having you sing along can demonstrate vulnerability, add auditory stimulation and greater group cohesion to the experience while encouraging participants to sing along as well.  
  • Musical line fill– in opportunities are presented to participants to encourage a solo moment within a song, encourage attention to the music/ following along and to get a sense of engagement from the participants. If the music therapist leaves out a lyric or phrase within a song, allow time and space for the participant(s) to fill in the lyrics.  
  • Watch this video for an example of how you can support singing in sessions

Communication With Your Music Therapist 

  • Update your music therapist if there have been any significant changes with an individual or within a group, this can inform the delivery of music-based experiences to address participant needs. 
  • Let your music therapist know what behaviors  or presentation a participant may display within music therapy sessions that stands out from their normal day to day; what times of day or activities does the participant struggle with? What are their preferred activities? What do they have positive responses to? Negative?  
  • Keep lines of communication as open as possible for your needs and the needs of participants, all information is beneficial to service delivery. 
  • Feel free to ask questions. Our music therapists would love to hear what’s on your mind!