Building Bridges Music

MusicTherapy

Phone: 734-454-0866 Fax: 734-454-1744 Address: 9357 General Drive, Suite 101, Plymouth, MI 48170

Contractual Services | Little Bridges Preschool | How to Get Started | General & Contact Information

Serving: Southeast Michigan, Metro Detroit, Wayne County, Oakland County, Washtenaw County, Ann Arbor, Belleville, Canton, Farmington, Inkster, Livonia, Northville, Novi, Plymouth, Redford, Westland, Ypsilanti

Why use Music Therapy?

· Music grabs and holds attention; it is motivating and engaging. Many children are willing to wait their turn in a music game, or to listen and respond to sung instructions.

· Music provides a social context – it sets up a safe, structured setting for verbal and nonverbal communication. When a group of children play instruments together, they have to think about and listen to their peers, adjust their volume and tempo, and work together, regardless of the complexity of the setting or music activity.

· Music is success-oriented. The sessions are structured so that each child is able to participate and succeed at his or her own level.

· Music structures time. Being told “you will get to play the drum for one verse of the Drum Song” is concrete. When the timing of an action is set to music, it may be easier to understand.

· Music provides a meaningful, enjoyable context for repetition. Children love to sing songs over and over again. And some songs repeat the same information many times (think of “Head Shoulders, Knees and Toes). Repetition is a key method to teach a child new skills or ideas.

· Music is an effective memory aid. Research has shown that participating with music releases dopamine, a neurotransmitter needed for one to learn new information. We remember songs – this is why children learn to sing the ABC’s, and why we can sing along with our favorite songs from “way back when.”

· Music provides a natural context for experiencing movement in space, and for following directions. Clapping your hands and stomping your feet to the beat are natural responses to music because rhythm is processed at the subcortical level of the brain. Flowing music can help a person understand how to more gracefully move through space. These natural responses to music can be used to achieve goals in areas of perceptual, fine, and gross motor skills.

Music Therapy can take place in group or individual sessions. In Music Therapy, children work on improving communication, social, sensory integration, or fine/gross motor skills through the planned use of music. Music provides concrete, multi-sensory stimulation which is processed in several areas of the brain. Therefore can be helpful in organizing a child’s sensory systems.

Music Therapy is much more than a music class or music group. A Board Certified therapist understands how to use music to help your child meet his or her goals in a variety of areas. Rhythm, lyrics, melody, timing, and other aspects of music involve many different parts of the brain...those that are typically used for language, and also those used for non-verbal processing and functions.

Because of this, Music Therapy is utilized in situations ranging from working with those with language disorders or social skills deficiencies (such as those often associated with Autism Spectrum Disorders), to helping stroke and closed head injury patients recover neurological functioning. At Building Bridges, all Music Therapy sessions are led by a Board-Certified Music Therapist specialized in working with children.