Music Therapy Awareness Month

It’s almost here!

March is Music Therapy Awareness month, and the Therabeat team couldn’t be more excited to spread music therapy advocacy and awareness with our community and beyond! We are so passionate about what we do, and we love MT awareness month because we get to set aside intentional time to share more about the field.

During the month of March we will be sharing music therapy research, information on what is going on at Therabeat, and some other fun surprises (stay tuned!). We will continue to share music therapy moments from our sessions so that you can see the growth and successes of our awesome kiddos!

What can you do to be a part of MT awareness?

Our goal is to share and spread correct and helpful information about music therapy with the general public. The more advocacy is spread, the more people know, receive, and benefit from music therapy. If you or a loved one has benefited from music therapy--help us share by:

●      Re-sharing research articles

●      Write a Facebook and Google review (write a google review by googling “Therabeat” or wherever you have received MT and give a review on the sidebar) and share how music therapy has benefited you or a family member

●      Refer those in need of MT in your community. We work hard to search for grants and waivers so that all patients referred can have an opportunity for treatment!

What is Music Therapy?

This is the big question! There are many misconceptions about what music therapy is and what it isn’t. Check out this link from the American Music Therapy Association (AMTA) to help answer this question. As always, we are available and LOVE to answer questions about MT as well!

http://www.musictherapy.org/about/musictherapy/

Thank you all for helping to spread MT awareness--we are excited for the month of March!!

-Perry Wright LPMT, MT-BC

Final Internship Blog

As my internship comes to an end, I am reminded of how thankful and blessed I am to be a part of such an awesome team. I am thankful for my short time at Therabeat and my how time flies! It is bittersweet as I think of the lives I have grown to be a part of and families I have gotten to know and love, but in a couple short weeks I will be board certified music therapist. What an accomplishment! I want to especially thank the whole In Harmony team. Each one of those wonderful ladies are incredible to work with. They are full of knowledge and encouraging words daily that got me where I am now. I had the privilege of observing and even co-treating with occupational, physical, and speech therapy, which helped me to better meet the needs of children as a music therapist. I am also thankful for my loving and supportive family and fiancée. It hasn’t been the easiest being six hours away, but they never stopped encouraging me. All in all, I cannot be more excited to be able to spread the joy of music therapy in my hometown of Mobile, Alabama. All thanks to my awesome internship!

Final Internship Blog

Time flies when you’re having fun! I cannot believe that my time as a music therapy intern is coming to an end. It seems like just yesterday that I had my orientation and met my sweet co-intern, Aubrey. Many things have happened since I began my internship. I have had the opportunity to see children grow in their confidence through performing for others, I have had the sweet privilege of leading individual sessions, group sessions at “The Carpenter’s Shop” pre-school and Blue Ridge Mountain Recovery Center and much more! I was able to accompany one of the kiddos at Riverfest…AND….I GOT MARRIED!!! Whoa! A big life change there! But my husband has been extremely supportive of me during my internship and he even serves as my guinea pig when I am excited about trying a new intervention with a patient the next day.

This internship experience has really been a dream come true. I cannot explain how blessed I feel to genuinely enjoy my work each day and to be surrounded by a team of people with such wisdom, knowledge & experience. That is why I am overjoyed to have the opportunity to officially become part of the team once I am board-certified and licensed!

It is almost Thanksgiving…so I will share a few things that I am thankful for:

• The beautiful children that have taught me about patience, compassion and determination and who have allowed me to grow as a music therapist without even realizing the impact they’ve made on my life.
• The parents of these children who entrusted me to work with their children knowing that I was in the midst of a learning process and growth period.
• The Therabeat team who has guided me well and stretched me out of my comfort zone so that I could soak up as much music therapy knowledge as possible.
• The entire team at In Harmony Pediatric Therapy who has been so welcoming and helpful in teaching me more about PT, OT and Speech Therapy.
• The gift of music and how it reaches people that some never thought could be reached.

The Use of ABA in Music Therapy

Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) is an approach used with children with communication and language disorders. Dr. Hayoung Lim, Director of Music Therapy at Oral Roberts University, focused on using music therapy and Applied Behavior Analysis to increase language and communication skills. In Applied Behavior Analysis all behaviors, including verbal behavior, contains three distinct parts:

• The antecedent – what causes the behavior, or events that lead up to a resulting behavior
• The behavior
• The consequence of the behavior – the result of a performed behavior.

Using these three distinctions, the therapist establishes a pattern of circumstances resulting in identified behaviors. Therapists use strong motivational variables to elicit the desired behavior. This acts as a reward for the child.  Since music provides a natural structure, it allows it to be a solid antecedent and a strong reinforcement or reward for children with communication and language disorders. Music may also function as an automatic reinforcer, which means the child may respond naturally to musical stimuli without prompting to obtain the desired behavior.

To incorporate ABA techniques in a music therapy session, I created a visual schedule to provide clear structure for the child. By utilizing visual strengths, this provides a receptive communication system to increase understanding. When using the picture schedule, children are able to see what happens first, next, and last, while also providing them with the opportunity to make choices. A reward chosen by the child is placed at the end of the session to reinforce the positive behavior. Using ABA techniques in a music therapy setting assists in learning how to communicate appropriately all while creating positive music experiences.

Considering Rhythm

Autism Spectrum Disorder is historically known as a social and communicative disorder, but children with ASD have shown an 83% difference in motor functioning compared to typical children. More recent research has placed an emphasis on sensorimotor skills as compared to more familiar impairments such as repetitive behaviors and social-emotional processing. 

The cerebellum is the area of the brain which is mostly responsible for motor coordination. The cerebellum determines whether or not a movement will be either graceful or jerky. It is encouraging to note that by activating the cerebellum, we are not only improving motor skills, but posture, balance and even speech are improved. Rhythmic cueing is the process by which movement is synchronized to sound. Music therapists have found that rhythmic cueing has been especially helpful in motor rehab and should be considered for children with autism. 

Rhythmic cueing helps individuals anticipate the following movement in a way that is predictable and efficient. When music therapists use this technique, we ensure that music is used to facilitate rather than to accompany the movement. The goal is for the rhythm to provide a timing cue that is functional for the movement. 

Ideas for sing music to help with sensorimotor regulation:

• Use dynamics to show force of a movement  
  • Playing softly takes a lot of motor control, especially when you are sensory seeking child.
• Use a range of pitches to provide an auditory cue for the size of a movement.
  • If you are singing, “And..jump!” sing “And” on a low note and “Jump” on a high note so that your child will be prepared for a large movement.
• Add song stimuli to increase engagement and motivation in rhythmic exercise
  • Think about how much more motivated you are to exercise when you are listening to some fun music!

Things to note:

• Live music has greater possibilities in that the music can be adapted in the moment to meet the needs of the client.
  • Remember: We want to facilitate rather than accompany the movement. This gives us the flexibility of a pace that is comfortable for the client, but that can also be altered depending on his/her progression.
• Preferred music is so important, but sometimes it can cause the client to focus too much on singing the familiar lyrics of the song rather than on the movement pattern.

Reference: Lagasse, A. Blythe and Hardy, Michelle W. (2013). Considering Rhythm for Sensorimotor Regulation in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders. Music Therapy, 31(1), 67-77.