5 Ways Music Therapy Can Benefit Individuals with Cerebral Palsy

Written by Alecia M. Meila, MM, MT-BC

Music therapy is a very versatile therapy, and is used successfully across a wide variety of clinical populations. This month, we’ll be talking about music therapy’s benefit for individuals with cerebral palsy, although the principles can be applied to other diagnoses’ needs, as well.

Cerebral palsy (CP) presents primarily with motor skill challenges, as well as challenges that may impact speech, communication, and cognitive skills. Additionally, individuals with CP may present with psychosocial challenges stemming from these need areas, including impacting emotions, social connection, and leisure skills. Music therapy can address each of these areas in meaningful, neurologically informed ways. Individuals with CP may experience gross motor deficits such as spasticity, impaired balance, reduced selective motor control, and gait abnormalities, as well as fine motor challenges, including limited finger isolation, decreased grasp strength, and poor bilateral coordination. Speech and communication difficulties, often related to dysarthria and reduced breath support, can further impact expressive abilities.

Some individuals may also demonstrate differences in attention, processing speed, executive functioning, or motor planning. Beyond physical and cognitive considerations, emotional regulation, frustration tolerance, self-efficacy, and social participation can also be affected. Through structured rhythmic cueing, instrument play, therapeutic singing, patterned cognitive activities, and interactive music-making, music therapy provides an engaging, evidence-informed approach that supports the whole person in a dynamic and personalized fashion.

Gross Motor Skills

Music therapy techniques can be used effectively to address core stability, as well as encouraging steady gait and bilateral coordination when walking. Techniques may use a technique called “entrainment” to map a movement to a music beat, and this can be successful because they use music’s rhythm and structure to prime the brain for rhythmic movement. Think of walking through a supermarket: you may natural start walking to the speed of the music playing in the store.

The therapist can also plan a gait program to slow down, match, and speed up gait speed for the clients. Some of these techniques can have fancy names like Rhythmic Auditory Stimulation (RAS), but the basic principles are the same as with any entrainment technique: music is used to give the walking movement something to “attach” to, which encourages more steady gait, increased speed of walking, and/or greater muscle control through the controlled or “entrained” nature of the movement. (Think of doing a bicep curl - going very quickly and using momentum to move the weight will not build muscle as effectively as slower, more controlled movements.)

TL;DR: The control and steadiness the music brings to the intervention, as well as the structure it gives the brain, is what makes these kinds of interventions so successful.

Fine Motor Skills

Similarly, music therapy techniques can be used to address fine motor needs through instrument playing, including grip strength, coordination, and finger isolation. For example, an individual learning to play piano might be given songs or music exercises/warm-ups that encourage them to open their hands and hold that position while playing short excerpts of music, which may then increase over time. Piano playing can also address finger dexterity through using fingers individually to play notes, and improve coordination through each hand playing different things (i.e., one hand playing chords and the other playing a melody).

For some clients, working on fine motor skills may instead look like holding and playing less complex instruments, like horns or autoharps, xylophones or kalimbas, depending on their interests, needs, and strengths.

TL;DR: Playing instruments with therapeutic intention can address a variety of fine motor needs, from grasp strength, to finger dexterity, to bilateral coordination between hands.

Speech and Communication Skills

Music and speech utilize the same neural pathways, so individuals who have speech needs can benefit from a variety of music therapy techniques to address motor planning, increasing muscle tone for speech production, and improving breath support and control. Techniques like Melodic Intonation Therapy (MIT) are used successfully for these and other speech production goals, and singing can also be utilized to address breath support, control, and articulation. Reciprocal communication skills may also be addressed through the use of call-and-response songs. These methods tend to have specific structure and methods utilized within the sessions, although music making can also be more improvisatory to support the same goals.

In addition to the above techniques, music can provide non-verbal ways for individuals to communicate, to provide a means of expression when verbal communication may be or feel very difficult. For example, the therapist and client may play xylophones to capture and express abstract concepts like emotions, or more specific concepts like a home event the client wishes to express without words.

TL;DR: Speech and music utilize similar neural pathways, and a variety of structured and improvisatory techniques can be used to address speech production and communication goals.

Emotional Skills

Beyond physical and cognitive considerations, individuals with cerebral palsy may face social and emotional challenges, including frustration (and potentially frustration tolerance difficulties), anxiety, reduced self-confidence, social withdrawal, and barriers to peer interaction. Repeated experiences of physical limitation can also impact self-efficacy and autonomy, particularly during adolescence. Music therapy creates a supportive and strengths-based environment where individuals can experience success, connection, and self-expression. Through improvisation, collaborative music-making, songwriting, and structured turn-taking activities, clients practice emotional regulation, shared attention, social reciprocity, and confidence-building. Due to the flexibility naturally found within the context of music making, individuals with CP may naturally find success within music making/music learning, improving self-esteem and providing a sense of accomplishment within areas they may usually have difficulties (i.e., coordination or motor skills). In this way, music therapy not only addresses functional goals but also nurtures identity, resilience, and meaningful connection.

TL;DR: Music therapy can be used to address an array of emotional and social challenges experienced by individuals with CP (and other diagnoses) through the use of a strengths-based environment that promotes success and connection through music creation.

Cognitive Skills

Cognitive functioning in individuals with cerebral palsy varies widely, but some individuals may experience challenges related to attention, processing speed, working memory, executive functioning, and sequencing. Motor planning difficulties can also impact a person’s ability to initiate and complete tasks efficiently, even when cognitive understanding is intact. Music therapy offers a structured yet engaging way to strengthen these skills. Through rhythmic imitation, patterned musical cues, song sequencing, and structured transitions, clients practice sustained attention, auditory processing, memory recall, and task organization. Additionally, if a client is interested in actively learning to play an instrument such as guitar or piano, they will also develop skills related to crossing midline (via reading music), motor coordination (through both hands performing different tasks to play the instrument), and cognitive skills (via learning new skills). Music, due to the flexibility with which it can be applied, provides a natural framework for supporting cognitive development while maintaining high motivation and engagement.

TL;DR: Using music’s structure and its inherently motivational aspects, music can practice cognitive skills such as attention, auditory processes, memory recall, and other task organization skills. Via addressing cognitive and neurological needs, music therapy techniques also enhance developmental skills such as crossing midline and other similar skills.

Leisure Skills

While not specific to individuals with CP, as music therapists are trained to adapt music experiences to the strengths and needs of their clients, music therapy also provides a safe and supportive environment for an individual with physical, cognitive, or learning differences to develop a leisure skill in the form of music (learning to play an instrument, songwriting, singing, etc.). While music therapists do not take the place of music educators, music therapists are uniquely positioned to adapt these leisure skills to be accessible to each individual and guide each client along an individual path toward developing their music leisure skills of interest.

If you’re interested in knowing more about music therapy, or have questions about how music therapy may support you or your loved one, give us a call at 862-217-6042, or ask us to call you by filling our our phone call request link here!