What is Music Therapy?
Music Therapy is an established psychological clinical intervention, which is delivered by Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC) registered music therapists, to help people of all ages, whose lives have been affected by injury, illness or disability through supporting their psychological, emotional, cognitive, physical, communicative and social needs.
– British Association for Music Therapy, click below to visit the BAMT website.
What’s the difference?
The words therapy and therapeutic have broad usage in the English language.
Music can offer ‘therapeutic’ experiences in everyday life, such as listening to a piece of relaxing music to unwind at the weekend or listening to a piece of upbeat music on the car radio after a stressful day at work. Colouring books can be advertised as ‘art therapy’ and going shopping can be referred to as ‘retail therapy’. However, the word therapy comes from the Latin word therapia which translates roughly to ‘treat medically’ and the definition of the word therapy is simply ‘treatment intended to relieve or heal a disorder’ (Oxford Dictionary 2016).
So whilst the words music therapy can be used to refer to a CD of relaxing music, they also refer to a psychotherapeutic profession. In this case capital letters are often used, as the term Music Therapy refers to the title of an established profession.
What is a Music Therapist?
A Music Therapist is someone who has successfully undertaken a postgraduate Masters programme in Music Therapy. Once completed, the Music Therapist must register with the Health and Care Professions Council to practice legally.
The term Music Therapist is a protected title, meaning that is it illegal to use it without the appropriate training and registration. This protects the quality of the therapy service that is provided to people who can be profoundly unwell and vulnerable.
Why do Music Therapists Work with People Living with Dementia?
As I am sure you are aware, there is currently no known cure for diseases that cause dementia. Whilst many people live well with dementia, it is very challenging for others.
Sometimes, by the time a person has become a resident at a care home, dementia has caused much loss in their life, including loss of independence, loss of communicative, thinking and memory ability, loss of their home and often the loss of frequent contact with loved ones. This can also cause a loss of a sense of self identity and a deep sense of displacement and unfamiliarity. As many diseases that cause dementia often affect people near to the end of their life and are terminal illnesses, a person living with dementia may have feelings of loss relating to their own life. Whilst all of these huge life challenges are facing a person living with dementia, individuals can lose the ability to access support from themselves and others. As communicative and thinking abilities are often impaired by the progression of dementia, a person living with the condition may be faced with an extra layer of challenges in trying to be heard, trying to express themselves and trying to give context to their feelings.
Music Therapists work with people living with dementia to try to improve and uphold well-being.
At Keystone Music Therapy we practice a Person-Centred approach to therapy.
This means we take into consideration a persons diagnosis, any neurological impairment, physical and mental health, life history, personality, social environment and relationships and their musical preferences when delivering sessions. Sessions can include, but are not limited to; live music making, improvisation, familiar music singing, periods of silence for relaxation or reflection, instrument playing, talking and listening to clients, showing empathy and understand through expression and gesture, recordings of preferred and culturally significant music and recordings of environmental sounds such as the ocean.