Music Therapy Schools

Choosing the Best Music Therapy Schools

Choosing a school is never a simple task.  When you are trying to find a place that will guide you toward your academic and personal goals, not all music therapy schools are made alike.  You need to weigh several factors in choosing the program that’s right for you.  While this process is time consuming, the best music therapy schools are out there – if only you a few hours of your time to carefully consider your options.

The first thing that most people look for in music therapy schools is their accreditation status.  You generally want to apply to programs where the curriculum has been verified by the national accreditation board so that you can potentially teach at higher education systems or transfer your credits to another program later in your learning.  It is simple enough to find the answer to this question – ask the school enrollment office when you sign up for more information.  They will let you know if you are looking at an accredited school or not.  While there’s nothing necessary wrong with a non-accredited school, it can limit your career options down the road.

The next thing to look for in music therapy schools is the price.  Though student loans and grants are often used to help pay for education these days, that doesn’t mean that you need to borrow a bunch of money to get your degree.  Find programs that are reasonable in cost so that you can focus on what you are learning, rather than what you are paying for the education you are receiving.  It will help to determine a range of prices for your schooling as well as to figure out what you can afford to pay each month, if they offer a monthly installment plan.  Limiting the amount of money you need to borrow is always good advice.

But it’s the programs at music therapy schools that you should really focus on.  Look at the classes they offer, when they are offered, and who the teachers are.  You want to sign up at a school where the teachers are already professional music therapists as they can give you a better idea of what to expect in your career and what you need to learn before you will be ready.  Though the reputation of a school might be something that’s appealing to you, another factor to consider is class size.  You don’t want to be lost in the masses of a larger school when you could be going to a lesser know, but still solid school, getting the attention you need.

Music Therapy Cancer

Music Therapy Cancer Treatments

One of the most interesting applications of music therapy is in cancer treatment. Music therapy cancer treatments are very helpful to a wide variety of patients who suffer from a large range of cancers. While music therapy cancer treatments don’t actually affect the disease itself – meaning that the tumor will not show any physical signs of improvement – the treatments and therapies will greatly affect the mood of the patient, and sometimes that can make all the difference in the way the patient deals with and feels about the disease.

The American Cancer Society has published several articles about the benefits of music therapy cancer treatments. One from 2004 discusses some of the more specific research done on cancer patients who have received music therapy. The music therapy cancer treatments used were diverse, as were the types of cancers that the patients suffered from. Most of the patients in the study suffered from multiple myeloma, Hodgkin disease, and non-Hodgkin lymphoma. The reason the study chose to work with these particular cancer patients is because they were undergoing typical medical cancer treatments like autologous stem cell transplant and high-dose chemotherapy. These treatments are exceptionally rigorous on the patient, causing symptoms like anorexia, fevers, and fatigue. But more than these problems, most intense are the emotional rigors of the treatments. These were the symptoms that were best helped by the music therapy cancer treatments.

The music treatments commonly used to treat cancer patients are varied; however, most patients in this study received music therapy in the form of live music played by a trained music therapist. The results of the music therapy cancer treatments in this particular study were fascinating. According to the researchers, patients reported a great improvement in mood. The more anxious patients reported a lessening of their anxiety symptoms. Meanwhile, patients who were experiencing other mood-lowering symptoms like depression reported having an overall elevated mood.

Because of all of the positive results from the multiple successful music therapy cancer treatments used all over the country, music therapy is now offered in many hospitals. There are more therapies than just the live music therapy discussed above. Some patients have used music therapy cancer treatments like music activities. Music activities – often involving writing song lyrics or playing an instrument – have been shown to greatly decrease anxiety in cancer patients. Of course, as with all types of therapy, these music therapy cancer treatments should be done with the help of a trained music therapist. Music therapists work with the individual patient to find the best therapies for that patient.

What is Music Therapy?

When you ask the question, “What is music therapy?” you’re bound to get a number of answers.  Many of these answers vary depending on the experience of the person who you are asking.  From patients to therapists, each answer may be different, but they all reveal the power of music therapy to help others.  Here are some of the ways, “What is music therapy?” can be answered.

If you were to ask a patient, “What is music therapy?” you might hear that it is something they are using to help overcome a number of problems.  From psychological to physical, music therapy can help soothe the nerves of a patient and make them more receptive to therapeutic suggestions and advice.  They might describe a typical session as including themselves, a therapist and a CD player or mp3 player.  In this session, they might listen to music in the background or they might be encouraged to bring their own music to share.  In listening to the music, they might feel more relaxed and able to share their feelings through the lyrics or the tone of the songs themselves.

Other patients might answer “What is music therapy?” by talking about writing lyrics or dancing to the music in their therapist’s office.  Each client and each goal is going to yield a different form of the music therapy and practice.  While one patient might simply like soothing music in the background as they talk – others might like angry music to stir up the feelings of anger they want to work through.

Those who are not in therapy might think that the answer to “What is music therapy?” is actually something they’ve learned on their own.  When they are upset or stressed, they might turn on a favorite song to help them work through these feelings.  Or if they are having a hard workout, they might turn on faster paced music to help them get through the tough parts.  If you were having a hard time in your relationship, you might listen to the music from your wedding to help you recall the loving feelings you have about your spouse.  It’s all music therapy.

For therapists who get asked, “What is music therapy?” a lot, they might answer that it is a tool that can be used to help clients reveal more of themselves in a session or that it is a way that a therapist and a patient can communicate without talking.  In playing a certain song, for example, a patient can show the therapist which lyrics feel like they are feeling right then and then the therapist can work with this information.

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