Music in Life
This is a song you might choose when you need an energy boost on a tired day.
What is music's role in motivation and emotional arousal regulation?
- tempo, rhythm, lyrics, familiarity
- cultural and personal meaning
- intentionality to shift energy without overstimulation
This is whether music therapy is only for patients who already like music (true or false).
What is false?
- music therapy is for clinical goals, not talent or preference
- we can utilize sound, rhythm, structure, and relationship even with limited interest in music
- music therapy doesn't equal entertainment
This is one instrument that tends to work well in a hospital environment.
“What is an instrument that’s portable, cleanable, and volume‑controlled?”
- simple cause and effect
- safety and goal
This is one music therapy intervention you’ve seen, heard of, or can imagine happening in hospital.
- live music, improvisation, songwriting, imagery, relaxation, instrument play, receptive listening...
- chosen based on assessment and goal
- activity vs. intention = intent matters
This is what a music therapist is in a hospital setting: a healthcare provider or an entertainer.
"What is healthcare provider?"
- clinicians with extensive schooling and practicum experience
- therapeutic goals, documentation, and ethics
- may look fun AND delivered with therapeutic intent and assessment
- Distinguished from volunteers/performers, both valuable for different reasons!
This would be your “theme song” for today—and the reason you picked it.
What is music's role in reflecting identity, values, and coping?
- Theme songs reflect identity, mood, values, and coping.
- build agency
- can communicate what's hard to say directly
This is a reason a toddler in hospital might be referred to music therapy.
What is... coping and comfort in hospital? Developmental support? Bonding?
- transition support for fear, separation, disrupted routines, pain
- predictable structure and co-regulation
This is one way you could adapt an instrument for an infant or toddler.
“What is hand‑over‑hand support and short turn‑taking?”
- additional adaptions, soft mallets, simple rhythms, cause-effect play, caregiver involvment
- co-regulation and developmental skills (turn taking, attention, initiation etc)
- intensity and stimulation
This is one reason a music therapist might use songwriting with a teenager.
“What is supporting identity, emotional expression, and autonomy?”
- supports identity, autonomy, voice, emotional processing, story telling/narrative
- medium that feels 'non-clinical' but deeply expressive
- can be private or shared; process not performance
This is one difference between a music therapist and a music performer.
“What is therapy being goal‑directed and responsive to patient needs?”
- Performer goal = audience enjoyment
- MT goal = patient health outcomes
- MT adapts to cues, performance follows rehearsed plan
- MT tracks responses and documents progress
This is the type of music you might reach for when you’re feeling sad or stressed.
What is music's role in emotional expression and co-regulation?
- support emotional expression, comfort, and co-regulation
- music for matching before shifting
- support processing
This is one way music therapy can support a child experiencing medical anxiety or distress.
“What is using music to support coping and emotional regulation?”
- predictability, choice, pacing, coping playlists, live music to match breathing or affect
- grounding, connection with others
- regulation, agency, therapeutic relationships
This is one way instruments could be adapted for a child with limited mobility.
“What is using mounts, larger grips, or one‑hand instruments?”
- switch access, iPad apps
- provide choice through voice, pointing, eye gaze, yes/no
- participation and agency
This is one way live music can be adjusted in the moment to match a patient’s needs.
“What is matching the child’s breathing, movement, or affect in real time?”
- live music allows immediate changes in tempo, volume, harmony, complexity, and lyrics
- track breathing, facial expressions, movement, breathing, engagement, pain indicators, and fatigue
This is one difference between music therapy and music education.
“What is therapy focusing on health goals rather than musical skill mastery?”
- Education = skill-building
- MT = therapeutic outcomes
- MT can overlap into education, however the intention and training is different
These are a couple of reasons music can be strongly linked to memory and emotion.
What is the way familiar songs are connected to people, places, and events?
- autobiographcial memory
- predictability and safety
- legacy and meaning making
This is a reason music therapy might be helpful during procedures or respiratory care.
“What is using rhythm and live music to pace breathing and reduce distress?”
- Live music for entrainment and support
- Creates structure, cueing, and shared focus
This is one strategy music therapists use to manage sound levels on a busy inpatient unit.
“What is positioning, timing, and volume control to match unit needs?”
- softer mallets, dampening, smaller instruments
- positioning away from doors, timing, checking in with staff
- intentional use of dynamics
- environmental music therapy
This is one way music can support emotional regulation or relaxation in hospital settings.
“What is guided music relaxation to reduce stress and distress?”
- steady pulse, predictable phrasing, slower tempo, reduced complexity, guided breathing, preferred songs
- reduce muscle tension
- regulation doesn't always = calm: activation to engage and then settle, iso-principle
- consent and choice always
This is one reason it matters that music therapy is evidence-based.
“What is ensuring safe, effective, accountable care?”
- evidence to guide clinical decision making
- align with hospital standards
This is one way a hospitalized child might experience music differently than they would at home.
What is music providing comfort and control in an unfamiliar setting?
- music as a soothing anchor during pain, fear, fatigue, sensory overload
- choice and control
- music entrainment
This is one way music therapy can support family bonding or reduce caregiver stress in hospital.
“What is creating positive shared experiences for families in hospital?”
- support caregiver confidence with practical tools
- support meaning-making through legacy songs, celebrations, and memory making
This is one reason a music therapist might choose live instruments over recorded music.
“What is being able to adjust instantly to the patient’s cues?”
- responsive = match breath, pace, emotional state
- builds relationship through child lead music, stop/start, change, co-create
- personalization without relying on devices
These are some factors music therapists consider when choosing an intervention for a patient.
“What is choosing based on assessment, safety, environment, and interdisciplinary plans?”
- clinical goals, medical status, precautions, development, sensory needs, culture, preference, caregiver/family presence, timing environment
- coordinating with other care team members
- documentation and evaluation
This is one element of the training music therapists complete to work in healthcare settings.
“What is training in assessment, treatment planning, documentation, evaluation, and ethics?”
- clinical placements
- therapeutic skills
- specialized clinical training, not just musical ability