Music Therapy – Tap Your Toes, Heal Your Heart

Guest Blog written by Marlys Woods, AMFT, Owner of Get In Tune Music Therapy

Music therapy performed by a board-certified music therapist is a therapeutic experience that uses music as a tool to bring about change. At?Get in Tune Music Therapy, we draw upon our experience and connection to music to inspire, educate, and explore ways to express our needs.

According to neuroscience research, music therapy has been shown to support client’s ability to regulate their emotions and to decrease negative affect and depressive symptoms. These changes can be seen through brain scans of individuals who participated in music therapy sessions.

In addition, neuroscience research has shown that music therapy supports learning through a double encoding process, where information is processed both verbally and musically. This strengthens the memory trace during learning. 

Whether the goal is to reduce stress and anxiety, regulate emotions, improve communication skills, or increase ability to self-express, this modality of therapy has been proven to increase efficacy of therapy, whether used alone or as a complement to other therapeutic modalities.

While music can be a highly effective form of complementary therapy for addiction, it can potentially trigger overwhelming emotions, desire to use, and/or flashbacks of repressed memories if used incorrectly. Get in Tune has solved this problem by creating a certification intensive program.

Music therapists who have certified in 12 Step Specialization with Get In Tune Music Therapy have taken the time to enhance their skills to provide appropriate music therapy services for substance abuse clients.