Learn about music therapy for all ages in July at two libraries

Published on June 29, 2022

All ages are welcome to join music therapists from Heart and Harmony for hands-on sessions to learn how music can be a fun, rewarding and meaningful experience.

Sessions are 11 a.m.-noon Thursdays (July 7-28) at the Golden Triangle Branch Library and 11 a.m.-noon Fridays (July 1-22) at the Southwest Regional Library.

What is music therapy?

The practice uses music and instruments to help people work on their non-musical therapeutic goals. For example, therapists can use the motion of drumming to help a client with a physical condition extend their reach. Music can also be used to help intellectual and developmental abilities and improve communication, socialization, cognitive skills, emotional regulation and expression, motor skills and more. Music therapy can be used with people of all ages.

For the library sessions, therapists will provide an overview and introduction to music therapy, as well as having participants try out related activities. Music alone Leacan be like medicine, but an expert can help focus its healing properties.

"Music itself is therapeutic, and as a music therapist, I highly encourage anyone to use it purposefully as a tool in their daily lives,” music therapist Madison Michel said in 2020. “Enjoying listening to and playing or performing music recreationally is fantastic, but understanding how music affects the brain and body and using evidence-based practices to facilitate targeted interventions that meet non-music goals is a different, specialized skill set.”