Music & Art Therapy

Music Therapy

Music therapy in a school setting does not replace music education or recreational music opportunities, but joins these programs as other options for meeting IEP goals. Since music therapy is regarded as an instructional support program, it is compatible with the educational model. School music therapists are often prepared to fill the role of teachers, consultants to teachers, and instructional team members. The result is a blend of education and therapy that assists students with special needs in using their strengths to minimize their disabilities and maximize their potential.

We can conduct a consultation to evaluate needs of an individual student, classroom, or program. An initial consultation requires approximately 3 hours and begins by meeting with classroom teachers, aides, and other staff to discuss areas of concern and prioritize needs. Observations are then made to:

• evaluate effectiveness of routines and schedules currently being implemented
• use of music strategies (if being used), and
• consistency of current interventions

Students’ functioning and responsiveness are also observed within each learning-based experience (ie: independent work time, circle time, etc).

Based on the observations and identified area of concern, the music therapist will make recommendations for specific musical interventions to address identified goal/objective areas. These recommendations will focus on objectives that are SMART – i.e. Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, and able to occur within a reasonable Time frame.

Adapted Musical Instruction

Our music therapists can assist individuals in learning to play a musical instrument. While we do not focus on technique, reading music, or building a reperatoire, our therapists use the music lesson format to develop key skill sets that transfer to other areas of functioning. Our music therapists also foster the development of music performance as a leisure skill, one that may carry over into adulthood. For adolescents and those individuals with an interest in song-writing, our therapists are adept at fostering melodic development, rhythmic sophistication, and lyric enhancement. We also have the capacity to perform and record within our office, often enabling clients to take their work home with them on a CD. By incorporating instruction on the keyboard or guitar (most typically), students strengthen their skills in a number of areas including:

• Auditory Discrimination
• Fine and Gross Motor Skills
• Sequencing Ability
• Sensory Integration
  
• Executive Functioning (modulation, monitoring, memory)
• Frustration Tolerance
• Self-Expression
  

Applied Music Therapy

Music therapy experiences are also valuable for those in recovery, and are based on patient-driven goals. Music Therapy interventions are often particularly helpful in addressing a persons’ therapeutic needs in a non-threatening manner in order to increase understanding of self, self-expression and communication skills, frustration tolerance and learn how to manage leisure time productively, to take responsibility, to be less perfectionistic and more self accepting, take risks toward personal growth, and learn to have fun in a healthy, sober way. Music Therapy may involve music facilitated relaxation training and/or autogenic training, listening and discussion of themes related to addiction and personal history, songwriting, improvisation, and therapeutically designed music instruction.

Music Video Therapy©

Cadenza Center clinicians also have extensive training in group psychology dynamics.  Based on this training and Dr. Reitman’s years of clinical experience with adolescents, he created Music Video Therapy©, which uses creative art therapy experiences to achieve treatment goals within a group context. This form of treatment, which can also be used with individuals, provides a powerful form of intervention for at-risk adolescents and Dr. Reitman has received grants to apply it for use with juvenile offenders. Music Video Therapy was the focus of his landmark work within the Institute of Pennsylvania Hospital, which has been extensively documented in professional conferences and workshops.

Please click here for Autism music therapy

Art Therapy

Art therapy is a human service profession which utilizes art media, images, the creative art process and patient/client responses to the created art productions as reflections of an individual's development, abilities, personality, interests, concerns, and conflicts. Art therapy practice is based on knowledge of human developmental and psychological theories which are implemented in the full spectrum of models of assessment and treatment including educational, psychodynamic, cognitive, transpersonal, and other therapeutic means of reconciling emotional conflicts, fostering self-awareness, developing social skills, managing behavior, solving problems, reducing anxiety, aiding reality orientation, and increasing self-esteem.

Art therapy is an effective treatment for the developmentally, medically, educationally, socially or psychologically impaired; and is practiced in mental health, rehabilitation, medical, educational, and forensic institutions. Populations of all ages, races, and ethnic backgrounds are served by art therapists in individual sessions.