Like play and other child life activities, music therapy can be powerful medicine for kids. At Children’s Hospital, our board-certified music therapists use music to help meet your child’s physical, emotional, developmental and social needs.
What Do Music Therapists Do?
Music therapists are trained and certified to use developmentally appropriate, patient-preferred music during your child’s hospital stay to enhance the healing process. We partner closely with child life specialists to create a family-friendly, supportive environment throughout the hospital.
As part of an academic health system, we also conduct research on the effectiveness of music therapy. For example, our music therapy team is currently leading research on how music therapy interventions benefit babies’ brain development.
Benefits of Music Therapy Services
No musical experience is needed for kids to receive the benefits of music therapy, which include:
- Decreased discomfort
- Emotional support and bereavement
- Improved coping and emotional expression
- Improved energy and physical activity
- Improved sleep and tolerance to stimulation
- Legacy building and creating meaningful moments, memories or keepsakes through songwriting
- Pain management
- Reduced anxiety and stress, and improved mood
- Support for your child’s development and cognitive functioning
How to See a Music Therapist
If you’d like your baby or child to receive music therapy while at Children’s Hospital, ask your provider or nurse. They can request a consultation with our team.
Pediatric Music Therapy Services We Provide
Our music therapists offer a range of services to support your family in different pediatric units throughout Children’s Hospital, including the:
- Pediatric intensive care unit (PICU)
- Cancer and blood disorder clinic
- Children's ER
- Children’s Hospital procedural suite
- Preoperative and post-operative units by referral
Music therapy for children may involve:
- Active music therapy interventions, including instrument play, instrument instruction, movement to music, song writing and therapeutic singing
- Passive music therapy, including music listening (live), guided imagery and music assisted relaxation
Music therapy is personalized to your child’s needs. If they have asthma, therapy might involve blowing through a wind instrument, such as a kazoo or harmonica, to open their airway and reinforce breath support. Or if your child is having chemotherapy, we can provide soothing, live music or guided imagery for pain and stress management. Our music therapists can find creative ways to support your child’s care.
Music Therapy in the NICU
Music therapy is also an integral part of family-centered care for premature infants in our NICU. With music, we aim to help your little one thrive while providing comfort and connection for your entire family.
Specifically, preemies and their families in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) can benefit from music therapy through:
- Emotional support for caregivers
- Improved caregiver-infant bonding
- Improved non-nutritive sucking skills needed for oral feeding
- Improved tolerance to stimulation
- Pain control and increased comfort
- Stabilized heart rate, breathing and oxygen saturation
Our music therapists work in collaboration with physical therapists, occupational therapists, speech therapists and others to support your preemie’s needs. Music therapy services available in the NICU include:
Live Music Listening
This type of music therapy benefits preemies at least 27 weeks gestation. Through soft lullabies, we can help reduce stress, support vital signs and promote brain development.
Multimodal Neurological Enhancement (MNE)
MNE combines music, gentle touch and rocking your baby to improve their brain development.
Pacifier-Activated Lullaby (PAL)
This special device plays soothing music while your baby sucks on a pacifier, working to improve their sucking skills and better transition to oral feeding.
Developmental Music Therapy (DMT)
DMT uses music to stimulate your child’s senses and promote developmental milestones.
Legacy and Memory-Making Opportunities
Using the recorded heartbeat of your baby, we can help you create a song that provides a lasting memory. This heartbeat recording program provides comfort for families of terminally ill children, or children with anticipated complex hospitalizations.
How to Become a Music Therapist
If you’re considering a career as a music therapist, please contact our team at hegbbp@umsystem.edu or 573-771-4227 for further information or shadowing opportunities.