What is Music Therapy?
Research conducted as a final project of an MA degree in International Broadcast Journalism at City University London. 2010-2011 (By Maite Pérez de Nanclares)
Interviews with Linda and Ruth:
‘My name is Linda and my daughter is eight years old and she suffers from autism and severe learning difficulties as well. She can’t tell me what is going on inside and sometimes she has just been crying for no reason and it is really difficult to reach her and know how she is feeling, but with music therapy she can just begin to express how she is feeling not in words, but sometimes just in the noises that she can make or … a bang in a gong!’
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‘My name is Ruth and my son is seven years old and he has been diagnosed with autistic spectrum disorder. He has started speaking because he went to music therapy. And whether he would have spoken anyway, you can’t prove, but, within about eight weeks of going to music therapy, he started speaking. ‘
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Music therapy can be an effective intervention for children with a very wide range of needs. These may include
- Developmental delay
- Physical/sensory disability
- Autistic spectrum difficulties
- Emotional and/or behavioural difficulties
- Lack of self-confidence or poor self esteem
Aims of Music Therapy
These are tailored individually to each child, but might include:-
- Increasing communication, interaction and self-expression
- Developing peer group and self-awareness
- Providing emotional support
- Developing skills such as listening, sharing and turn-taking
- Developing co-ordination and motor control
- Increasing self-confidence and building self-esteem
Music Therapy thus contributes to a child’s overall development.
Music Therapy and Autism
Music Therapy is well known as an effective intervention when working with children with autism. It can help to stimulate development of communication/social interaction/imaginative play – the ‘triad of impairments’ in children with autism. Early intervention is vitally important for these children and music therapy is best begun at the pre-school stage, although it is still very appropriate for older children.
The support offered by the therapist is predominantly on a one-to-one basis. The therapist responds to movements / vocal sounds / instrumental playing led by the child, incorporating them into a musical context: by developing a relationship through spontaneous music making, the child can explore new ways of relating, leading to development and change.
Important points to note –
- The use of (musical) sound as an expressive medium predates the acquisition of language.
Children can experience meaningful communication with the music therapist through vocal and instrumental sounds before they have developed formal language.
Making sounds with musical instruments offers a non-verbal means of communication and self-expression.
Children can create musical self-portraits through the music being improvised with them and there is a direct connection between their needs/difficulties and this music. Thus music therapists experience the music improvised with a child as the expression of that child’s self at that moment.
- A wide range of feelings may be experienced in response to musical sounds in sessions, whether improvised or pre-composed.
The music therapist is able, via clinical improvisation techniques, to reflect musically the emotions that a child may be feeling. This helps a child to develop experiences of emotional self-expression – a central difficulty for children with autism.
Music Therapy in Schools
Schools may access music therapy provision via either:-
- a Service Level Agreement which runs for a year at a time and offers either a half day or a full day’s service. (link to SLA)
- via the sessional service if a whole or half day of sessions is not required but schools need to refer individual pupils.
Music Therapy Sessional Service
The Hertfordshire Music Service offers music therapy sessions in your own school or in one of the Music Centres across Hertfordshire with a team of professional fully qualified State Registered Music Therapists. Sometimes it may be possible to offer sessions at the child’s school if a room is regularly available. Therapists are appointed to the team only after a rigorous process that includes interview, Criminal Records Bureau full disclosure and good references. They have regular training in order to keep up to date with current professional standards.
How much does it cost? Please note remission of fees information below.
- Individual sessions cost £30 per session. A session is usually up to 30 / 40 minutes actual contact time, followed by detailed note writing. There will usually also be feedback time following each session, if appropriate for the referred child.
- The therapist will take time to write up confidential notes following each session so that detailed assessment and review reports will be available. Information will also be prepared for statementing reports and for other professionals as appropriate.
- The therapist will ask for consent for confidential audio and/or video recording of some sessions, in order to reflect on clinical work in more depth. Consent maybe refused but this will not affect the referred child receiving music therapy sessions.
- Sessions for a pair of children cost £15 per child per session
- Group sessions, 3 children or more, £12 per child per session
Music therapy for most children would be in individual sessions, but the needs of a small number of children may be more suited to paired or small group sessions. The therapist will be able to advise you on which type of sessions would be appropriate.
- You will be asked to commit to sessions for a term at a time and will receive a bill at the beginning of each term. This may be paid in two instalments, at the beginning of each half-term. If, following the assessment period (see below), the music therapist decides that music therapy is not suitable for the child referred, you will receive a refund of the remainder of the first half-term’s fees. In the majority of cases, once the assessment period is completed, music therapy session would be on an ongoing basis, although the continuing effectiveness of the therapy would be monitored at the end of each term.
- There will be a minimum of 33 weeks of therapy sessions per year, 11 per term, although sessions may run for the whole term if agreed between you and the therapist. Some terms are up to 13 weeks and 11 sessions in a term would leave a long break between sessions. Usually therapists are able to complete 35 or 36 weeks in a year, allowing for Inset Days.
- A short referral form will need to be completed and you can talk through more details with the therapist concerned before beginning sessions. You will be asked to sign a contract agreeing to a music therapy assessment and ongoing therapy sessions for the referred child. Referral & Consent Form - click here
There is a Remission of Fees scheme for eligible families and Looked After Children. Please speak to Jenny Blanch at the Music Service (01438 844848) for more details.
How will the sessions be arranged?
- The Music Therapist who will work with the referred child will ring you for an informal discussion before sessions begin and to arrange a suitable time for you.
- Sessions will always take place at the same time and in the same venue each week, with the same therapist. Music therapy works via the development of a musical relationship between the therapist and the child. Normally the child will attend in the therapy room on their own.
- There will always be an initial assessment period of between 3 and 5 sessions, during which the therapist will begin to get to know the child and will assess their suitability for more long term music therapy. A written assessment report will be prepared and the therapist will discuss whether music therapy is going to be an appropriate way of working. In the unlikely event that the therapist decides, following the assessment sessions, that music therapy is not going to be suitable, you will receive a refund of fees paid, minus the three assessment sessions.
- It is quite usual that a child may attend music therapy sessions for at least a term or longer, so there is a firm commitment required.
- If you wish the child to finish music therapy sessions, you will need to give half a term’s notice in writing.
- If the therapist decides, in consultation with you, that the child is ready to finish sessions, half a term’s notice will usually be given. It can sometimes take children a long time to form a trusting relationship with the therapist and children’s development will be very much helped by adequate preparation for the ending of relationships.
How do we get started?
Please return your referral and consent form to:-
Addressee Only
Jennie Small, Head Music Therapist
Hertfordshire Development Centre SROB 208
Hertfordshire Music Service
Robertson House
Six Hills Way
Stevenage
Herts, SG1 2FQ