Our speaker this week, Sophia Inaba, a UCLA alumnus and former member of SIM, is currently studying at Lesley University pursuing a master’s in mental health counseling. She is also in an equivalency program to become a music therapist. She gave an amazing talk about music therapy and her experience in the field.
Music in Everyday Life
Music is such a big component of our everyday lives. Whether it’s listening to lo-fi to help you study for that big exam or getting you in the zone for your workout or putting on some catchy beats to lift your spirits, we all use music to help us get through our day.
Since music is so ingrained in our culture, it can act as a connective force for people who feel isolated. Music therapists can tap into the inherent healing properties of music to help people to reach their goals in health, wellness, and recovery. They use the patient’s relationship with music as a medium to reach their healing goals.
What is music therapy?
Music therapy is the clinical and evidence-based use of music interventions to accomplish individualized goals within a therapeutic relationship by a credentialed professional who has completed an approved music therapy program.
There are two main types of music therapy done by music therapists: receptive music therapy and active/creative music therapy. Receptive music therapy is “music IN therapy," when patients listen to music and describe their experience afterward. Receptive music therapy can be seen in the form of using music to calm people down during mediation or using the lyrics of a song as an entry point to a patient’s life. Active/Creative music therapy is “music AS therapy," which engages the patient in creating music. Active music therapy can be seen in the form of playing music with an ensemble or playing a duet with the music therapist.
Music therapists work in a variety of fields like schools, prisons, hospitals, mental health recovery centers, nursing homes, and the list goes on. With a diverse patient population, there is no such thing as a “typically” session of music therapy. Each music therapy session is unique to each individual. A couple of examples of music therapy sessions are guided imagery and music therapy and neurologic music therapy. Patients in guided imagery and music therapy listen to music then draw their emotions and feelings they felt during the music session. In neurologic music therapy, music therapists can use singing to help stroke patients, who lost their ability to speak due to damage in the Broca's area, train the neuroplasticity of their brain muscles to speak again.
Becoming a music therapist
There are many paths to become a music therapist. The typical route is graduating with a B.A. in a music therapy program and undergoing a 6-month internship for clinical experience and passing the Board Certification Exam. Another path in becoming a music therapist is going through an equivalency program. This route is for applicants who already have a degree like music, psychology, or a related major and are trying to take the Board Certification Exam. A third route is pursuing a master's and equivalency program like Sophia.
Try it at home
With midterms approaching, some exercises in the realm of music therapy that can help you destress are deep breathing with instrumental music in the background or writing lyrics to describe your life to a relatable song.
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