Does Music Therapy Belong in School Programs?

Written by Laura Bill, MT-BC

For better or worse, back to school is just around the corner. So, as we begin to wind down on summer fun and prepare for the school year, one thought crosses my mind. Could integrating music therapy practices (including some of the ones we have been sharing on our blogs and socials) into a school curriculum benefit your student(s)?

The short answer is yes! Music therapy uses music to help individuals accomplish nonmusical goals, including those needed to thrive in an educational setting. The main music therapy goal domains are physical, cognitive, communication, and social/emotional. In school, students need to physically navigate their environment and use fine motor skills to write and type. They also need cognitive skills such as attention span, listening, and problem solving to take in the information being provided by the teachers. Communication and social/emotional skills are vital to expressing needs, regulation, and making friends. All of these domains directly correlate to how ready a student is to learn and can all be supported through music therapy. 

So, if music therapy is beneficial to students, why is it often not offered in schools? Well, there are a few potential reasons. First and most likely, is that many people are unaware of music therapy as a field. Though music therapy has been around for over 80 years, dating back to at least WWI, the majority do not know that it exists. If the schools do not know about it, they cannot put it in their curriculum. 

This then leads to reason number two. For those who have heard of music therapy, a good amount do not fully understand what it is and its benefits. For example, because music therapists use music as the modality of therapy, they are often confused with music teachers, thus making them be seen as a redundant service. But, as stated above, music therapy addresses nonmusical goal areas. Music education focuses on teaching the students music competencies. Though a music therapist and music teacher can, and often do, work together to support students with music, their purposes are different. Without knowing the difference between the two though, schools may not see the need to budget for both. 

Music therapy goal areas also overlap with speech, occupational, and physical therapies; thus making them be seen as, you guessed it, a redundant service. These fields do have much more in common because they are looking for similar outcomes, but their area of expertise is different. For example, a music therapist knows how to use music to prompt and support a student to make their speech sounds, while the speech therapist knows the mechanics of how to explain to the student how to make the sound. By adding music therapy to an interdisciplinary team, students will have more opportunities to practice their skills, across more domain areas, leading to more support and often faster progress.

Now, don’t get me wrong. There are some specialized schools and public school districts that offer music therapy. It can sometimes be incorporated into an individual's IEP plans or provided as a weekly or daily part of a classroom's curriculum. The schools that offer music therapy have a unique and beneficial service, but they are few and far between. 

So, as you take the time to look over your child’s back to school shopping list, I encourage you to also look into what services your school is offering. If music therapy isn’t listed and it is something you are interested in, be sure to email your case manager, district director, or attend a parent meeting to learn more and advocate for your student! 

If you have questions about music therapy or would like more information, please contact us at info@riverstonetherapies.com.