Are you a music therapist looking to get more engaged in your clients care? Are you a PT/SLP/OT/medical professional wondering how to integrate music therapy into your treatment plan?  If so, here are a few examples and tips for interdisciplinary co-treating in the field:

1) Music therapy and speech therapy:  Music therapy is a great option for speech rehabilitation.  Active singing is a successful way to engage clients who are living with aphasia or other speech disorders.  Neurologic music therapists utilize specific, research based techniques to stimulate speech, vocal production and strengthen respiratory systems.  Music is a motivator for clients and can activate the attention network, helping a client attend for an entire session.   Co-treating with a speech and language pathologist can help with the client reach their goals and have fun in the process!

2) Music therapy and physical therapy:  Music and rhythm has been found to help stroke, TBI and Parkinson’s survivors relearn even gait patterns.  Again, using music as a motivator, as well as manipulating the rhythm to match and entrain the clients gait, clients are able to reach goals while receiving a positive stimulus – their favorite songs!  While playing music from a cd in the background might provide a pleasing stimulus for the client during his or her therapy, having a specifically trained board-certified music therapist present would elicit more positive results in the rehabilitation process.  The same is true for range of motion exercises.

3) Music therapy and occupational therapy:  Similar to speech and physical therapy, OT sessions can be enhanced by the motivating nature of music.  In my experience, I have had success working with an occupational therapists while teaching a stroke survivor to play the keyboard.   Together we focused on finger dexterity and crossing mid-line while the client gained self-esteem from playing a new instrument successfully.

4) Music therapy and massage therapy/Reiki:  I have years of experience with this type of co-treating in hospice care and I can attest to the beyond relaxing results.  Imagine you are receiving a massage, specifically tailored to your comfort needs and timed perfectly with the rhythm of your favorite song (which happens to be matching and entraining your respiratory rate).  A popular response to this co-treatment is induced sleeping and that’s just great – especially when 20 minutes ago the client was experiencing a high level of pain/anxiety.

5) Music therapy and nursing/nursing assistance: Live, preferred music can positively redirect clients during painful procedures such as blood work, repositioning, bathing, feedings, etc.  Not to mention, the staff will usually report feeling more relaxed by the music and might even sing along while interacting with the client.  Win, win, win!

6) Music therapy and spiritual care:  Live, preferred spiritual music can enhance spiritual comfort for those clients with spiritual needs.  Providing preferred spiritual music and lyric discussion during a chaplain visit can be very effective for clients, especially those who are no longer able to attend religious services of their preference.

7) Music therapy and social work/psychosocial support: One example of co-treating with a social worker that has been successful in my career is combining live music for relaxation with guided imagery scripts or progressive relaxation.  Another benefit to this co-treatment is having two therapists available for processing and reflection while keeping live music present for comfort.

8) Music therapy and music therapy!:  Although it is a luxury most of us do not have often, co-treating with another music therapist can be very beneficial, especially while conducting a group.  While music therapists are trained to be flexible and juggle many responsibilities, it is nice to have another therapist present to help focus on specific clients who may need more assistance or prompting.

If you have a suggestion or successful co-treating story to share, please comment below!

For more information on how music therapy can help heal and retrain the brain, click here.