What Is and Isn't Music Therapy?: Music Therapy Mythbusting
As a music therapy intern, I am learning something new nearly every minute of every day. So much is being revealed to me as I explore the wide scope of music therapy practice and the various healing spaces we create and step into. Each music therapist carries nuanced perspectives and philosophies, and there is truly no “one size fits all” approach to our work. So, as you might expect, I am quite frequently encountering beliefs I held during my undergraduate course work which no longer feel always true. Though the following statements might seem controversial to some practiced music therapists, my intention is not to challenge anyone else’s practice, but rather to challenge the idea that there is always one right way, or one wrong way, to do music therapy. Our practice is as diverse as our clients and will continue to diversify as both society and our relationship with music evolves over time.
My intention for this post is to bring to mind a few ways we might be limiting ourselves in our practice, and to remind us that we can always find space to expand our ideas of the possibilities for music experiences in music therapy.
Myth #1. Recorded music is not music therapy
I don’t know if anyone ever explicitly told me this, but when I started my internship I held the idea that recorded music is not real music therapy, or perhaps it is lazy music therapy, if anything. My experience so far had demonstrated that live music was always preferred, because this creates opportunities to adapt the music in the moment.
Though this is true, it does not diminish the value of recorded music in sessions. For many people, recorded music is what we connect with first as we develop our relationship with music. Regardless of musical ability, most of us have a strong connection to particular songs, singers, or bands, and these feelings and memories are triggered not just by the song itself, but by the sound of the recording and the original artist’s voice or sound. Additionally, some songs (think “Bohemian Rhapsody” by Queen) just cannot be replicated on guitar only.
An example of using recorded music in music therapy is in song sharing activities to build group cohesion and provide opportunities for self-reflection, processing experiences, and self-expression through listening to and discussing preferred music. Recorded music is also a great go-to when a client requests a song that I don’t know. If it’s apparent that this song is what is needed in the moment, I would be doing the client a disservice by refusing to play it in some form, and there is always an opportunity to sing or jam along with a recording.
Myth #2. Music performance is NOT music therapy
This statement is not a claim that music performance is always music therapy, because the therapist’s intention for the music, how it is played, why, and what songs are chosen are all given great consideration in music therapy. However, we must not allow these differences to prevent us from performing when appropriate.
Let me explain further. In my internship, I visit a cancer unit and play music for and with people while they are receiving treatment. When I first began visiting this site, I held the belief that if I was performing I was NOT doing music therapy- but this belief led me to actually feel hesitant to play the music in a way that felt like performing. But part of the gift we carry as musicians and music therapists is the ability to connect with others on a deep level through our voices and performance. If I play a song for someone with no feeling because I don’t want to feel like I am “performing” for them, then my client may be missing out on a significant piece of the music- the intention, the emotional storytelling, and the emotional content that is carried not just by the lyrics and the music, but the delivery as well. Finding a balance in this and always remembering the intention behind everything we do is the key to high quality and therapeutic music experiences.
We can even create therapeutic opportunities through client performances as well. Performance allows us to practice expressing ourselves, to experience support and connection, and to create something meaningful to us and experience what it’s like to share that with others.
Myth #3. Music therapists should be professional, and that means they should ALL look/dress/act a certain way
Oof. I really internalized this one early on in my studies. Going into my undergraduate program I had hot pink hair, and was just beginning to explore my queer and gender-fluid identity. My peers and I were told that we must try to be as “plain Jane” as possible when we went to our practicum sites. For this context, “professional” meant covering up tattoos and piercings, dressing in a particular way (such as standard business casual), and behaving or presenting in a way that might be considered “normal” by the dominant culture.
After hearing this, I changed my hair back to it’s normal color, and became very self-conscious about how I presented myself at sites. Though I was exploring my gender identity at this time, it wasn’t until I had a supervisor who used they/them pronouns that I started to reject this idea that I should fit some idealized standard of what a therapist should look or be like.
As music therapists we work with clients of all backgrounds, identities, classes, and abilities. Our job is to make space for our clients to be their full, authentic selves in the therapy session and out in the world, not to force conformity. Clients will have varying ideas of what success and wellness looks like to them, just as we therapists bring our identities and values to our sessions. If all therapists conform to one concept of what a therapist should look/act/be like, what does this communicate to our clients, and how can we encourage them to be their most authentic selves when we aren’t showing up just as fully?
We can make space for nuance in our work as music therapists, because context and intention matter.
What works for one client may not work for another, so we learn how to diversify our approaches to music therapy and allow space for the many ways music may be used to support a client with their goals, instead of creating barriers to the type of music or approaches we use. Using recorded music, putting on a stellar performance together at the cancer unit, and showing up as my authentic self is creating opportunities for clients to connect with me and with the music, and to bring their authentic selves to the experience as well. I am learning to allow myself to reconsider established “rules” about how music should be used, and instead ask myself what the client needs from the music in the moment, and how this can best be presented. And sometimes, Freddie Mercury just does Bohemian Rhapsody so much better justice than I ever could–so we recruit Spotify to help us, and we sing along!