According to the British Association for Music Therapy, the practice can be considered thus:
Music plays an important role in our everyday lives. It can be exciting or calming, joyful or poignant, can stir memories and powerfully resonate with our feelings, helping us to express them and to communicate with others.
Music therapy uses these qualities and the musical components of rhythm, melody and tonality to provide a means of relating within a therapeutic relationship. In music therapy, people work with a wide range of accessible instruments and their voices to create a musical language which reflects their emotional and physical condition; this enables them to build connections with their inner selves and with others around them.
Music therapists support the client’s communications with a bespoke combination of improvised or pre-composed instrumental music and voice, either sung or spoken. Individual and group sessions are provided in many settings such as hospitals, schools, hospices and care homes, and the therapist’s approach is informed by different theoretical frameworks, depending on their training and the health needs which are to be met.
Music Therapists work to create a safe space in which they can facilitate a therapeutic relationship with their clients. Music Therapy is NOT a complimentary therapy (there is rarely whale song involved!) and is more often akin to therapeutic interventions such as psychotherapy or counselling, than to any form of "relaxation" technique (although, of course, clients may experience senstations of relaxation as a result of processing difficult emotions within the therapeutic space). Music Therapists take into consideration their clients' emotional and physical needs, as well as their musical histories. Music Therapy most often uses musical improvisation by therapist and client for the expression and containment of emotional release. Clients may also choose to use pre-composed music in their sessions, either to perform themselves or, for example, to share a favourite piece of recorded music with their therapists. Music Therapy can take place in individual or group sessions and sessions can be facilitate in various clinical settings.
Requirements
Music Therapists in the UK are now required to complete a two year full-time (three year part-time) MA course, although Therapists who qualified prior to 2007 may still be qualified to Diploma level. The training includes intensive study of psychological/psychodynamic/psychoanalytic and child development theory, experiential practice of other Arts Therapies (Drama Therapy, Art Therapy, Psychodrama et al.), seminars given by visiting professionals from other fields (Occupational Therapy, Psychology, Cognitive Analytic Therapy et al.). There is also a necessity for one year's part-time clinical placement (often divided as one placement of six months and two more of three months each - each one in a different setting with a different client group).
Music Therapists are required by law to be registered with the Health Professions Council in order to practice within the UK.
A Bit About Myself
I have been lucky enough to have music as an important part of my life since I was three years' old, when my Mum asked me if I wanted to have violin lessons. The rest, as they say, is history...
As I got older, I went on to study voice, oboe and piano (with a bit of bassoon and a few recorders thrown in for good measure!). I was first made aware of the profession of Music Therapy at around age 13, and knew from then that it was what I wanted to do with my life.
As they say (or would, if they knew me at all), the path to Music Therapy practice never did run smooth. I attended Exeter University in 1999, and gained a BA (Hons) in Music in 2002. After that, I stayed on and completed an MA in European Film Studies. At this time, the requirement to begin training as a Music Therapist was to be aged 25 years or above. I was 21 in 2002, so was fortunate enough to be able to complete the further study and give some thought as to what I could do with next.
Along came a few wildnerness years during which time I was able to keep-up my musical performance skills in various choirs and orchestras, which I thoroughly enjoyed. Then, in 2006, circumstances came together, and I was able to apply for the Music Therapy MA course at Anglia Ruskin University. I can still remember the joy and excitement I felt when I received my offer letter.
Since qualifying as a Music Therapist in 2008, I have been building my experience in supporting people, both musically in my growing private practice (Music Therapy and tuition) and as a Child and Family Worker in Children & Young People's Social Care: a position which I held from 2009 until earlier this year.
I now work part-time for Huntingdon Regional College, both as a peripatetic music tutor and as the Project Manager for the Music Therapy Service which we are newly seeking to establish (watch this space!). The rest of the time, I continue to build my private practice. I have been able to combine my skills in Music Therapy and music tuition to also provide what I call 'therapeutic' or 'adaptive' music lessons (along with standard lessons and clinical Music Therapy) to people with needs such as learning disabilities or mental health difficulties.
The Belltree Music Therapy Centre in Brighton (to which, I hasten to add, I have no affiliation: I cannot take credit for any of their great work!) give an excellent representation of personal difficulties which an individual and therapist may be able to work through in Music Therapy sessions:
Music therapy can help people of all ages and abilities. It is often used when a person's communication skills are limited or when they have difficulty engaging in a verbal therapy. This may be due to emotional distress or a physical or learning disability. Some examples of the types of difficulties which can benefit are listed below:
Communication difficulties, due to:
- —Autistic Spectrum Condition
- —Speech and language disorders
- —Developmental delay
- —Learning disability
- —Physical disability
- —Elective mutism
- —Neurological conditions
- —Brain Injury
- —Dementia
Emotional Difficulties such as low self-esteem or anger, due to:
- —Marital breakdown,
- —Bereavement
- —Attachment difficulties
- —Domestic violence
- —Disability
- —Trauma
Other reasons why people have found music therapy to be beneficial are:
- —Behavioural problems, such as Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)
- —Mental health problems
- —Terminal illness
- —Stress
Difficulties such as those listed above rarely occur in isolation and music therapists draw on their awareness of the client's background, and their knowledge of psychological and psychodynamic theories to respond to and work with the client appropriately.
Music therapy is also used by people who are able to communicate freely but are interested in personal growth and self-discovery. Clients can use music and sound to explore their emotions, discover new insights and develop a greater understanding of how they relate to the world.
(http://www.belltree.org.uk/about_music_therapy.html)
My Work
Other than working with clients who have brain injury or neurological disorders, I qualified and clinically experienced to address the other difficulties listed above by Belltree.
I work with clients of all ages and backgrounds. A risk assessment and Music Therapy assessment may be appropriate for me to carry out before a final decision is made regarding therapeutic input. I am able to provide sessions throughout Cambridgeshire, within clinical or home settings as appropriate. For clients who are also service users of, for example, mental health services, it may be useful for me to contribute (with client consent) to Care Plans or, in the case of children, to Child in Need plans - such matters can be discussed and decided on a person-to-person basis. Client confidentiality will only be broken in the case of Child Protection or SOVA concerns.
If you or someone you know wishes to know more about Music Therapy or the services I provide, or you are interested in receiving Music Therapy or therapeutic music tuition from me, please contact me by email at za_music@yahoo.co.uk or by telephone on 07791308536.
This has been a rambling post, but so has my musical journey. I look forward to be a part of yours.
