Getting Started with Music Therapy

If you’re wondering how to get started, what the intake process looks like for Maine Music & Health therapy, and how payment goes, this post is for you.

Our first session is devoted to getting to know the client. This is done through both formal and informal assessments. I also spend time outside our session gathering information from other therapists or relevant medical providers you are working with in order to make sure my therapy is integrated into your overall medical plan.

Music therapy assessment tools look at every aspect of a patient’s health, including social-emotional, cognitive and physical. I often use the same assessment tools that other therapy modalities use.

With the information learned from my assessment, I develop a treatment plan that includes measurable goals and objectives – or the small steps we’ll take in music therapy to reach those goals, and the frequency of visits. My main focus is to make sure the skills learned in music therapy transfer to my patients’ everyday lives.

It’s important to have the solid foundation of a good assessment and treatment plan so we can measure definitively that the therapy is working, and if we’re not seeing the rate of progress we would like we can go back and adjust the plan as needed.

I work in a variety of settings, which usually determines how the cost of my services are covered. In some cases, music therapy is covered by insurance. I also accept private pay or work through an organization’s funding source, whether I am contracted with a hospital or group home or connected with grant funding through a nonprofit like the Dempsey Center.

Speaking of coverage, Maine Music & Health is advocating for music therapy to be covered under MaineCare, and started a task force in 2014. The Maine Music Therapy Task Force is now a statewide group of leading music therapists promoting advocacy, education, and legislative efforts in order to increase the recognition and accessibility of music therapy services to Mainers.

Here’s an overview of my services. You can click here to schedule a free intake call.

And just for fun, here’s a video of my Feb 9 OUT OF THE BLUE Livestream with Port City Blue.