Using Music Therapy to improve the lives of children with disabilities.

While you may have heard that music therapy is a powerful psychological and mental health tool, most people don’t know that it can be a very potent physical medicine as well. Calming music therapy began in the 1950's and today is considered a valuable alternative when treating children with a wide range of disabilities. One of the reasons why this is so is because, unlike many other therapies, music therapy stimulates both the right and left brain at the same time. In disabled children, when music therapy is applied correctly, children not only respond mentally but physically as well. The reason for this is that music stimulates a physiological response at the same time that it’s also causing a psychological response.

There are a wide range of disabilities that can and are being helped by music therapy. From Down’s syndrome to physical disabilities, ADHD and mental retardation, many children have been helped with music and sound. With music therapy, an atmosphere can be created in which disabled children are swept up by sounds, words, vibrations and other physical stimuli, reducing their pain and increasing their quality of life. Children suffering from depression have shown incredible response to music therapy. In many studies, when exposed to fun, energetic songs, their mood, comportment and attitude change almost instantly. For a child that’s visually impaired music can help them to express themselves artistically in a way that’s not connected to sight. With music, the individual instruments, tones and pitches can represent the world for a child who cannot see. Similar to other forms of physical and speech therapy, a parent that can bring music therapy into their home will achieve optimal health outcomes for their child. The fact is, music is a spoken and an unspoken art and a combination of the two at the same time. Because of this it has become a sought-after option for parents with disabled or developmentally delayed children all over the globe. Here at Southwestern Music Therapy , L.L.C, our music therapy programs have been helping children and adults for several years in Dallas-Ft. Worth,Texas as well as Houston, Texas. If you have any questions about music therapy, need some advice or just would like to comment, please do and we will make sure to get back to you ASAP.