Even as a trained, experienced, board-certified and licensed professional Music Therapist of 17 years, and a business owner in the healthcare space of SW Washington for the past 7+ years, there is still a question, by far, that I get asked the most: “What is music therapy”?

It doesn’t always get asked quite so clearly or directly, and can take many forms, almost always well-intentioned:  “Oh wow, what is that?”; or “That’s cool, but how does that work?”; or sometimes, “That’s your actual job”?!  Sometimes it doesn’t get asked with the best of intentions, and sometimes it doesn’t get asked at all, even when I can tell that my audience is wondering.

One of my many jobs as a music therapist and a creative arts therapy agency owner is to answer this common question each and every time it’s asked, and to educate with authority an answer that will inform and satisfy each asker.  The challenge is that there seem to be as many different answers as there are different ways to ask!

A good place to start is to look to my profession’s governing body, The American Music Therapy Association.  Here is their definition:

“Music Therapy is the clinical and evidence-based use of musical interventions to accomplish individualized goals within a therapeutic relationship by a credentialed professional who has completed an approved music therapy program.”

This reads as a dictionary-style definition, and has all the necessary components to justify music therapy as a healthcare discipline, including the fact that MT is an allied profession and that its practitioners have been schooled, trained, and credentialed.  That’s a surprisingly important part of the narrative, as there are many types of music healing practitioners, and music is widely known by all stripes of people to be beneficial to one’s health.  So while the AMTA’s definition can’t be argued with, it is longish and dry and isn’t (and isn’t designed to be) used too often as an “elevator pitch”.

I use a similar structure for a definition I created myself a number of years ago when presenting on music therapy and its benefits to interested healthcare organizations or facilities:

“Music Therapists use music (guitar, piano, voice, tonal and atonal instruments) in a therapeutic setting (wherever the patient is located) to work towards appropriate goals as determined by patient, family, caregivers, medical professionals, area healthcare agencies, and the music therapist.”

I find that this communicates more of the “where and “how”, with less of the “what” of the work I do as a music therapist, is more illustrative, and lets the receiver use their own imagination.  But it also contains some asides and explanations in parentheses, which makes it better to read on a screen than it might be to explain in our theoretical elevator.  And it is actually longer than the AMTA definition above!

So what is the most concise, yet useful, definition?  Is there just one? I will admit that I have been, and sometimes continue to be, frustrated when attempting to answer this question.  It is never an easy or short answer, but so very necessary in expanding the footprint of my profession, which I truly love and believe in.  I’ve heard the adage that if it can’t be told in a sentence, it’s not worth telling, but I’ve found that explaining music therapy would be one really long run-on sentence.

I find the the better question is: “What does music therapy accomplish?”  After all, in our therapeutic relationships with clients and patients, we as music therapists don’t often offer a definitional justification for our services.  How we communicate to our clients and their care team what it is we’re doing is entirely based on goals and outcomes.  Music therapists are consistently assessing, treating, and evaluating the outcomes of our work with people in need, and that success is based on the therapeutic gains that our clients are experiencing, which is in turn based on their goals for treatment.  And because music therapy is entirely individualized to the person or persons receiving treatment, the answer to the question, “What does music therapy accomplish” needs likewise to be individualized to a similar degree.  

To ask what music therapy is, we should ask what it can accomplish.  To communicate what it can accomplish is to respectfully ask what challenge our potential clients need addressed.  And to communicate that, we often need to ask and seek the source or cause of a person’s challenge.  And that is most usually understood by  population or diagnoses-based labeling.  Finally, we can begin to have a conversation and get to the heart of answering the original question:

Q: What is music therapy?

A: Music Therapy is a goal-oriented healthcare discipline that utilizes music as the main tool in creating a progress-based therapeutic relationship.  Are you asking for someone in particular?

Q: My mom has dementia, but she loves music!

A: Your Mom already sounds like a great candidate for music therapy.  In my experience, music can help folks with dementia with reminiscence, life review, relaxation, appropriate exercise, socialization, and can lead to less isolation, loneliness, and anxiety.  It can also be a good experience and therapeutic for family members, friends, and loved ones!

Q: What happens when you visit?

A: In your Mom’s case, I can meet her at her home or facility.  I’ll simply bring a guitar and songbook to start, as I assess her needs and your goals for her therapy.  I’ll play era-appropriate music for and with her, and will try and bring her some immediate engagement, relaxation, and joy.  Preferred music almost always works best; does your Mom have any favorite artists, songs, or genres?

Q: Oh, let’s see, she really likes old country and hymns…how often would you visit with her?

A: We are flexible anywhere from one time a month to once a week, depending on your needs and wants.

And so on and so forth!  If there is something to look forward to in hearing this tough question in an elevator, at a resource fair, or at the coffee shop, it is a potential conversation where there is meaningful communication.  And the above is just one typical example from just one common diagnosis.  Although dementia and in particular Alzheimer’s affects a great many people who might be seeking solutions, there are just as many people, families, and care teams seeking help with a great many other and vastly different health challenges.  The good news that I like to share with people is that music therapy CAN address nearly every malady, given the music therapist themselves specializes and is experienced with that population, and that the music therapist is the right fit for the client and their family.  

Each of these diagnoses and challenges, and more, can be effectively addressed through goal-oriented and outcome-based music therapy services, and each of them carries its own full and rich conversation when attempting a definition:

• Dementia, including Alzheimer’s Disease
• Developmental Disabilities, including Autism Spectrum Disorder, Down Syndrome, Intellectual Disabilities, and Pervasive Developmental Disabilities 
• Physical Disabilities, including Cerebral Palsy, Rett’s Syndrome, and with Tracheotomy, Chronic or Acute Physical Pain, Physical Rehabilitation from Injury
• Acquired Brain Injuries, including Stroke, Traumatic Brain Injury
• Neurological Conditions, including Parkinson’s Disease, ALS 
• Mental Health Disorders, such as with Trauma, Substance Abuse, Depression and Anxiety/Mood Disorders
• End-of-life Care, Hospice Care, including Natural Causes, Cancer

So what is music therapy? The truth of the matter is that music therapy, like many treatment modalities and disciplines, can’t necessarily be defined in an easily digestible sound bite.  Ours is a highly individualized and endlessly flexible solution, performed for people in need by trained, experienced, and specialty-minded practitioners. Even in a cultural landscape of quick fixes, online fads, and supposedly easy solutions to any challenge, I still believe in the power and meaning of face-to-face interactions and relationships.  However it is ultimately defined, music therapy can provide for and service these crucial needs.

Jake Beck, MT-BC
Music Therapist, Owner