function of music

Music IN Therapy vs. Music AS Therapy: A Change in Perspective?

July 25, 2014

A fellow music therapist published an insightful piece this week about his journey from a music snob to a music therapist. Based on comments and article shares, his post seemed to resonate with other music therapists. It did for me, too, but not in the music snob way . . . See, I’ve been trying […]

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Presentational vs. Participational Music: A Recap of the 2014 CMS Summit

May 22, 2014

Music therapy is an inherently interdisciplinary field, which makes it all the more surprising that it has taken me almost 15 years to finally begin attending non-music therapy-specific conferences. The first was the Society for Music Perception and Cognition conference in Toronto last summer. The second was the 2014 Summit for the College Music Society […]

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[PsychToday] Music: It’s More Than “Feel Good”

December 12, 2013

Every once in awhile a story like this emerges that that sings the praises (no pun intended) of listening to music. These stories expand on the therapeutic benefits of music, mostly those related to relaxation or mood induction (i.e., making one feel happy/calm/better). Although the New Yorker piece is better than most I read—it actually […]

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[PsychToday] “Silent Night” Won’t Be the Same For Me

December 22, 2012

I don’t often cry when listening to music. Don’t get me wrong—music touches me deeply. I get chills and experience a range of emotions. I dance when I turn on the new country station, my heart feels lighter as I sing along to holiday music, and I feel goosebumps when listening to Rachmaninoff’s piano concerto […]

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Standing on Our Own Unique Feet

September 13, 2012

A friend of mine recently posted the following quote on Facebook: For years music therapy has been wearing a mask because of our inadequacy to describe and understand her fully. We disguise her in medically acceptable terms. We speak only of observable data. We superimpose statistical formulae, hoping that if we develop the scientific side, […]

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Music IN Therapy vs. Music AS Therapy: My Perspective

March 8, 2012

It was–rather surprisingly–not that long ago that I first heard this question on how music therapy works: is it music AS therapy? or music IN therapy? A couple weeks ago, I invited student music therapist Kyle Fleming to share his thoughts on the topic that were prompted by a class discussion. Below are my thoughts. […]

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Music IN Therapy vs. Music AS Therapy: A Student Perspective

February 22, 2012

The Background Story… It was only a few weeks ago that I first heard the question on how music therapy works: is it music AS therapy? or music IN therapy? A day later, I read a tweet from music therapy student Kyle Fleming that said “Heated discussion about music in v. as therapy. Pretty interesting […]

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4 Reasons Why This Song Is NOT Good For Walking

May 18, 2011

There’s been a lot of exposure and interest in music therapy this spring…and one big reason is because of Representative Gabby Gifford’s therapy treatment. My music therapy friends and I have excitedly been sharing both articles we’ve written and those that have appeared on CNN, ABC, and the local Houston TV station. Although the circumstances […]

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