About Music Therapy
How it helps & Goal Setting
People come to therapy looking for support with their mental health and well-being in some way. Usually there is something going on that you want to learn how to cope with better or changes you want to make in your life. Sometimes there isn’t anything big going on, but you feel like you would benefit from a judgemental and supportive person to talk to.
As therapists, we want to create a space where you feel heard, safe, and to support the changes you want to make. In more traditional therapy, usually sessions just involve talking.
In music therapy, music is used as an active agent of change in the therapeutic process.
At KS Therapy Services, we specialize in mental health focused music therapy. In a lot of ways, it isn’t all that different than traditional therapy; the one big difference is that we can use music AND talking in intentional ways to help support you and your goals.
Goals can be achieved through verbal processing, songwriting, playlist building, lyric analysis, instrumental improvisation, structured music-making, and therapeutic music instruction. They are set in collaboration with the therapist and client; potential goal areas that can be addressed in music psychotherapy are:
To explore and express emotions
To develop tools for emotional regulation
To experience increased self-confidence
To experience a positive view of self and sense of accomplishment
To expand strategies for grounding and relaxation
To expand strategies for anger management
To build coping skills for anxiety
Curious what this might look like? We have examples of how our therapists use music in their sessions below.
Music is the method,
not the end goal in Music Therapy.
There is no musical background required to benefit from Music Therapy.
Sessions are tailored to each individual and their strengths.
How we can use music in music therapy
Writing a Song Together
Artists talk all the time about how therapeutic songwriting can be for them. Music therapists are specially trained to harness this therapeutic power in sessions. People find that songwriting can be especially helpful for processing something that has happened to them; it can feel safer to work through things they might not feel ready to talk about.
Want an example of a song that was written with one of our therapists? Watch the video below. Consent has been given to share this video and names have been changed to protect their identity.
Building a Therapeutic Playlist
If a client wants to build coping strategies and finds listening to music helpful, we can work together to build a therapeutic playlist. This isn’t your typical playlist - music therapists have been trained to understand and use certain principles when selecting music to listen to. We help you pick the music that is best for whatever you are wanting to cope with. For example, we could build some of the following types of playlist:
Anxiety de-escalation playlist
Anger management playlist
Emotion regulation playlist
A playlist to support behaviour activation (doing important things to help you manage an depressive episode)
A self-harm coping playlist
"Creativity, which is the expression of our originality, helps us stay mindful that what we bring to the world is completely original and cannot be compared."
- BRENE BROWN
