View the Caroline County community page

music therapy T r e a t i n g t h e b o d y & s o u l a

Music therapy catching on in variety of settings

Date published: 10/23/2005

By BETSY CRUMB

CD a day may not keep the doctor away, but music therapy can help people cope with emotions, manage pain and even overcome addictions.

"Music works because it is an art form that can speak to us very deeply," said James Borling, director of music therapy at Radford University.

Music therapists work with a wide range of clients, from those with addictions to those with Alzheimer's to those with mental and physical disabilities.

They work in schools with young children, in nursing homes with the elderly and with others in psychiatric wards, hospitals and private practices.

"Just [the other day] at the hospital we had a little girl who was very passive, very quiet, and they wanted us to increase her activity level," said Michael Rohrbacher, director of music therapy at Shenandoah University in Winchester. "So we were improvising songs on the spot about animals and those animals talking to her grandma, and before we were done, she was banging on the drums, this quiet little girl."

In the Fredericksburg area, music therapists work in a variety of settings, including hospices and with parents hoping to connect with their infant children.

"Before there were TVs and radios, there was music, and we've found this is a very good way to reach our patients," said Raquel Woodard, volunteer director for Mary Washington Hospice.

Borling, of Radford, specializes in using music therapy to help people overcome addictions.

It may not be the most traditional way of

intervening in an addict's life. But the therapy--whether it involves listening to music, writing lyrics or playing songs--can help addicts sort through the emotions that propel their abuse. Borling said substance abusers often are very cut off from their emotions.

"Music becomes a safe container through which emotional recovery happens," Borling said. "We give ourselves permission to have fun again, and everyone can have a lot of fun in a musical environment."

The American Music Therapy Association explains music therapy as a method of achieving individual goals through the use of musical intervention. Those goals could range from learning to deal with the stress of midterm exams, to learning to interact socially, to fighting off the urge to drink.

Follow us on

Date published: 10/23/2005