Music Therapy offers more than simply learning an instrument or appreciating music.
Music Therapy is an alternative method that addresses the cognitive, emotional, physical, and social needs of children and adults with disabilities and/or special needs. Using a vehicle such as music, our Interventionists are able to assist in improving the quality of life of children with special needs by helping to rebuild the connections that may have been missing due to disability or illness.
At Positive Horizons, our Music Interventionists and Therapists can assist your child or adolescent in developing fine/gross-motor planning, cognitive organizational thought processes, and hand-eye-coordination. Music Therapy can also help control anxiety levels; therefore, decreasing and re-directing habitual behaviors that some children may have. Our staff is trained on utilizing these specialized techniques to assist your child or adolescent in achieving their goals. More importantly, Music Therapy is used as a tool to motivate and reach clients from a more creative and less intrusive standpoint. A variety of instruments are typically used, including piano, guitar, percussion, as well as voice.
Our Music Therapy Goals include:
Developing language and speech skills
Developing practical life skills
Enhancing cognitive function and memory
Improving acquiring and applying academic fundamentals
Improving fine and gross motor skills
Improving social skills
Managing anxiety and stress through creative expression
Our Music Interventionists and Therapists can help you acheive your goals. Below are a couple of examples.
In helping to build language skills, Music Interventionists and Therapists often work closely with Speech Pathologists to develop treatment programs. Music Therapists then implement this specialized program using rhythmic patterns coupled with gross-motor and oral-motor movement to assist with verbal articulation, phonation, and auditory processing/stimulation.
At Positive Horizons, our Music Interventionists and Therapists can assist your child or adolescent with expressing repressed emotions or ideas that might otherwise have been difficult to communicate directly. Special techniques are used to focus on the socio-emotional growth process and well-being of your child. Our Music Interventionists and Therapists will introduce improvisation, music production, songwriting, rhythm and movement to your child or adolescent. The emphasis and goal is on the emotional journey taken by your child, and not based on the overall product that is created.
Music is an extremely effective medium since it is a nonverbal form of communication; therefore, music itself then becomes a natural positive reinforcer.
It has been shown that the rhythm of the music has the calming effects that some people find comforting. Although tastes in music vary from person to person, music can usually have a positive effect if used correctly, and can be a very successful tool in stress management. At Positive Horizons, our Music Interventionists and Therapists can help in this area.
Music Therapy offers more than simply learning an instrument or appreciating music.
Music is an extremely effective medium since it is a nonverbal form of communication; therefore, music itself then becomes a natural positive reinforcer.