Music Therapy by Larissa Woitulewicz MT-BC

Music therapy is not music lessons.  It is not just listening to music.   It is not just the introduction of a variety of musical forms to a student.

Music therapy IS an established health care profession along the same spectrum as speech therapy, occupational therapy, physical therapies and other creative arts therapies.  It uses music to address physical, emotional, cognitive and social needs of ALL ages.  Music therapy improves the quality of life for persons who are well and meets the needs of children and adults with disabilities  or illness...    American Music Therapy Association, 2009

In music therapy sessions, music is the primary tool used by a qualified practitioner to hep students achieve individualized non-musical goals and objectives.  At our school, the music therapist primarily addresses the unique cognitive, physical, communicative, daily functioning and social needs of the students to help them achieve and maintain maximum levels of functioning.  

Music therapy sessions are designed to create fun, successful, process-oriented experiences that can motivate students, while offering a unique and interactive medium for the students to develop skills that may be more difficult for the student to achieve using other approaches.