PEACHTREE MELODIES
music therapy
FAQS
Comprehensive Answers
Have a question you’d like to ask? I’m committed to giving clients the best care and experience I can. There’s no such thing as a bad question when it comes to your health. Check out the answers to the FAQs below, and don’t hesitate to get in touch if you have any additional questions.
WHAT IS MUSIC THERAPY?
Everyone is different, therfore, music therapy is based on individual needs. Music therapy helps across many populations including mental health, intellectual disorders, developmental disorders, substance abuse, grief care, physical well-being, cognitive processes, humanistic frameworks, social interconnectedness, personality disorders, and unconscious unresolved conflicts, but it is unlimited.
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. (American Music Therapy Association definition, 2005)
HOW DOES MUSIC THERAPY WORK?
Music therapists practice their techniques using thorough research and training in their area of expertise. Music therapy is highly individualized and effects each person differently. Music therapists use music to help individuals with non-music goals.
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Example 1, for a child with a intellectual delay, music therapy works by singing mnemonic songs about what we wear during the different seasons.
Example 2, for an adult with generalized anxiety disorder, music therapy works as a training device to settle somatic symptoms before they become a physical impairment.
Example 3, for individuals who have suffered from strokes, music therapy works to regain and strengthen damaged neural pathways using rhythm and movement or vocal training.
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DO I NEED TO KNOW HOW TO PLAY AN INSTRUMENT?
You need only to enjoy music to benefit from music therapy. A client typically is evaluated through musical and non-musical assessments and then interventions are planned according to individual goals and objectives. If you enjoy listening to music, you will more than likely enjoy music therapy. Live music is the key factor in music therapy. Listening to music on your headphones may give some benefit but the best method is music received through a trained music therapist. They will likely have assessed your needs and determine musical interventions based on that need.
INSURANCE INFORMATION
From the AMTA website:
"Music therapy is comparable to other allied health professions like occupational therapy and physical therapy in that individual assessments are provided for each client, service must be found reasonable and necessary for the individual’s illness or injury and interventions include a goal-directed documented treatment plan. Companies like Blue Cross Blue Shield, United Healthcare, Cigna, and Aetna have all paid for music therapy services at some time. Success has occurred on a case-by-case basis when the therapist implements steps within the reimbursement process. Like other therapies, music therapy is reimbursable when services are pre-approved and deemed medically or behaviorally necessary to reach the individual patient's treatment goals."