GREATER CHICAGO MUSIC THERAPY INC.
WHAT IS MUSIC THERAPY?
"Music can lift us out of depression or move us to tears...it is a remedy, a tonic, orange juice for the ear. But for many of my neurological patients, music is even more-it can provide access, even when no medication can, to movement, to speech, to life. For them, music is not a luxury, but a necessity."
~Dr. Oliver Sacks, neurologist and author
United States Senate Committee
Hearings on Music & Aging
What Music Therapists Do:
• Combine creative processes, physiological knowledge, and therapeutic approaches
• Collaborate with clients, carepartners, and other professional team members
• Adhere to national standards of the Certification Board for Music Therapy (www.cbmt.org) and the American Music Therapy Association (www.musictherapy.org)
What Music Therapy Is NOT:
• Listening to music
• Beneficial only for clients in a good mood
• Only for people with musical skills
• For the sake of activity, boredom, entertainment, education
• A music performance or concert
• One-size-fits-all
• Music activities led by someone not board certified in music therapy (MT-BC)
What Music Therapy Is:
• Use of music to work on needs and strengths
• Individualized intervention
addressing functional and wellness goals
• Led by a board certified music therapist (MT-BC)
• Evidence-based, dignified, clinical, and creative
• Promotes constructive skills, behaviors, thoughts, feelings
• Enhances quality of life and well-being