Music therapy is…

The clinical and evidence-based use of music interventions to accomplish individualized goals within a therapeutic relationship by a credentialed professional who has completed an approved music therapy program.

Music therapy is an established health profession in which music is used within a therapeutic relationship to address physical, emotional, cognitive, and social needs of individuals (American Music Therapy Association, 2021).

Assessment & Treatment

After assessing the strengths and needs of each client, the qualified music therapist provides the indicated treatment including creating, singing, moving to, and/or listening to music.

Therapeutic Process

Through musical involvement in the therapeutic context, clients’ abilities are strengthened and transferred to other areas of their lives. Music therapy also provides avenues for communication that can be helpful to those who find it difficult to express themselves in words.

Research

Research in music therapy supports its effectiveness in many areas such as: overall physical rehabilitation and facilitating movement, increasing people’s motivation to become engaged in their treatment, providing emotional support for clients and their families, and providing an outlet for expression of feelings.

Frequently Asked Questions

Music therapists assess emotional well-being, physical health, social functioning, communication abilities, and cognitive skills through musical responses; design music sessions for individuals and groups based on client needs using music improvisation, receptive music listening, song writing, lyric discussion, music and imagery, music performance, and learning through music; participate in interdisciplinary treatment planning, ongoing evaluation, and follow up.

Children, adolescents, adults, and the elderly with mental health needs, developmental and learning disabilities, Alzheimer’s disease and other aging related conditions, substance abuse problems, brain injuries, physical disabilities, and acute and chronic pain, including mothers in labor.

Music therapists work in a wide variety of settings including (but not limited to):

  • psychiatric hospitals
  • rehabilitative facilities
  • medical hospitals
  • outpatient clinics
  • day care treatment centers
  • agencies serving developmentally disabled persons
  • community mental health centers
  • drug and alcohol programs
  • senior centers
  • nursing homes
  • hospice programs
  • correctional facilities
  • halfway houses
  • schools
  • private practice

Persons who complete one of the approved bachelors, equivalency, or equivalency masters college music therapy curricula (including an internship) are then eligible to sit for the national examination offered by the Certification Board for Music Therapists. Music therapists who successfully complete the independently administered examination hold the credential Music Therapist, Board Certified (MT-BC).

The National Music Therapy Registry (NMTR) existed from 1998-2019 to serve music therapy professionals with the following designations: RMT (Registered Music Therapist), CMT (Certified Music Therapist), ACMT (Advanced Certified Music Therapist). While individuals who received these designations indicating they met accepted educational and clinical training standards were able to maintain these designations until 2019, the sunset of the NMTR was on December 31, 2019 (the culmination of the Unification Agreement between former organizations AAMT and NAMT) and these designations are no longer recognized.

AMTA promotes a vast amount of research exploring the benefits of music therapy through publication of the Journal of Music Therapy, Music Therapy Perspectives and other publications. A substantial body of literature exists to support the effectiveness of music therapy.

Professional music therapists are Board Certified. Some states have recognized music therapy at a variety of levels from Registration to Licensure.

The American Music Therapy Association now estimates that approximately 20% of music therapists receive third party reimbursement for the services they provide.

Music therapy is comparable to other allied health professions like occupational therapy and physical therapy in that individual assessments are provided for each client, service must be found reasonable and necessary for the individual’s illness or injury and interventions include a goal-directed documented treatment plan.

Since 1994, music therapy has been identified as a reimbursable service under benefits for Partial Hospitalization Programs (PHP). Falling under the heading of Activity Therapy, the interventions cannot be purely recreational or diversionary in nature and must be individualized and based on goals specified in the treatment plan. The current HCPCS Code for PHP is G0176.

Music therapy must be considered an active treatment by meeting the following criteria:

  1. Be prescribed by a physician;
  2. Be reasonable and necessary for the treatment of the individual’s illness or injury;
  3. Be goal directed and based on a documented treatment plan;
  4. The goal of treatment cannot be to merely maintain current level of functioning; the individual must exhibit some level of improvement.

Medicaid

There are currently a few states that allow payment for music therapy services through use of Medicaid Home and Community Based Care waivers with certain client groups. In some situations, although music therapy may not be specifically listed within regulatory language, due to functional outcomes achieved, music therapy interventions qualify for coverage under existing treatment categories such as community support, rehabilitation, or habilitation services.

Private Insurance

The number of success stories involving third party reimbursement for the provision of music therapy services continues to grow as more clinicians seek this coverage. In response to the increasing demand, the music therapy profession has worked to facilitate the reimbursement process for clients of music therapy services. Companies like Blue Cross Blue Shield, United Healthcare, Cigna, and Aetna have all paid for music therapy services at some time. Success has occurred on a case-by-case basis when the therapist implements steps within the reimbursement process. Like other therapies, music therapy is reimbursable when services are pre-approved and deemed medically or behaviorally necessary to reach the individual patient’s treatment goals.

Other Sources

Additional sources for reimbursement and financing of music therapy services include: many state departments of mental health, state departments of developmental disabilities, state adoption subsidy programs, private auto insurance, employee worker’s compensation, county boards of developmental disabilities, IDEA Part B related services funds, foundations, grants, and private pay.