The 3 Most Common Myths About Music Therapy in Memory Care
Whether you are a service provider or have a loved one with Dementia and other complex conditions, the odds are you may have heard of Music Therapy.
Though these misconceptions certainly occur in other settings, these are the most common I come across in my work in Memory Care.
The 3 Most Common Myths About Music Therapy in Memory Care
‘The primary goal is entertainment’
While Music Therapy can be highly engaging and entertaining, entertainment itself is often not the primary goal. There can be a wide variety of clinical goals addressed in Music Therapy such as: self-expression, neurological goals, socialization, pain management, and there are often multiple! While a Music Therapy session might resemble a jam session or sing-a-long at times, different activities within Music Therapy are stuctured and facilitated intentionally to achieve individualized goals. Simply put: a Board-Certified Music Therapist and an entertainer tend to have vastly different responsibilities.
Challenges accompanying this misconception
When Music Therapists are confused for entertainment, this can create confusion and barriers for client success.
For example: When I worked in hospice care, I would often arrive at board and care homes to work 1-on-1 with hospice patients, but find a whole crowd of residents waiting for my arrival as caregivers had prepared them for a ‘concert’. Harmless in some cases, sure. However, it created difficult situations when I assessed that a patient required more 1-on-1 attention and support. Care partners had a difficult time understanding the scope of music therapy (understandably) because music for entertainment and lesiure has had its place in care settings for much longer. Although it may upset some people initially, setting strong boundaries in order to provide the highest-quality services to your clients is paramount.
A family would likely not be happy to hear a facility encouraged their loved one’s personal physical therapist to work with a group of other residents at the same time as their private session, right?
‘Individuals with challenges communicating verbally will not be able to engage in Music Therapy’
Music Therapy is highly individualized and adaptable to any level of strengths and needs. In Music Therapy, clients can engage in a variety of ways and even make choices with the subtlest of nonverbal gestures. Contrary to this myth, I work with individuals in Memory Care who can express themselves powerfully through singing and engaging in music despite the challenges they experience outside of sessions due to neurological decline or other symptoms. How we individually engage with music is completely unique and does not need to look a certain way. However, when care partners and other stakeholders mistakenly regard Music Therapy as something entertaining to be ‘received,' this puts pressure on clients to have a certain level of energy or capacity to respond to entertainment, which is not only unnecessary in clinical music therapy, but potentially harmful for individuals who experience challenges with social interaction and self-expression. All too often, I encounter care partners putting instruments in clients’ hands and playing them vigorously, which is not only not enjoyable, but often agitating. Music Therapists hold client responses at the forefront of sessions, and adapt based on how they authentically respond, rather than pressuring to engage in any type of way. Some of the greatest successes I’ve experienced as a Music Therapist involve clients who had challenges expressing themselves verbally outside of music therapy!
Challenges accompanying this misconception
As a Music Therapist, encountering limited perceptions of the ‘best candidates’ for music therapy can be disheartening. Clients with a wide range of strengths and needs can be successful in music therapy. The limited perceptions of music therapy outcomes are also often seen through the immense surprise and delight of families and care partners when they witness clients fully connecting in music therapy. Despite active efforts of advocacy and education surrounding the many benefits of music therapy- you often have to see it to believe it!
“You are so great with mom. It’s like you speak her language!” -Family Member of Client with Aphasia
3. ‘Outcomes of music therapy sessions are ‘musical’ and occur only within sessions’
While the wide variety of interventions that exist within music therapy such as: singing, instrument playing, songwriting, relaxation, and moving to music can encourage a variety of ‘musical’ behaviors, the outcomes can extend far beyond the sessions themselves. As music therapy sessions are tailored to a client’s unique strengths and needs, outcomes can translate to increased socialization, positive improvement of mood, decreased perception of pain, decreased anxiety, and more.
Challenges accompanying this misconception
When the psychosocial, physiological, and emotional outcomes of Music Therapy are overlooked, clients who may benefit from these types of services may also be overlooked. For example, a client who may be struggling with anxiety might be referred to music therapy, but the client themselves or a care partner may think, ‘he doesn’t need to sing, he needs help with his anxiety.’ (Note: Music Therapy in Memory Care can promote more positive social interactions and self-expression as individuals may let their guard down engaging in something that is safe, predictable, and structured for their success). The ultimate goal in music therapy is to achieve outcomes that generalize outside of the session in order to improve quality of life and a client’s individualized goals.
If you would like to learn more about Healing Measures Music Therapy services, feel free to send us a message here. You may also visit the American Music Therapy Association’s site here for more information.
