new program<\/a> combines music, health sciences and clinical training to prepare students for national certification. Coursework covers foundational musical studies \u2013 such as theory, composition, history, and training in piano, guitar and voice \u2013 along with work in psychology, kinesiology, and anatomy. Along the way, music therapy courses will tie together the music and sciences, training students in such areas as medical and developmental populations, and patient assessment and treatment planning. Along with the coursework, students are required to complete 1,200 hours of direct clinical work.<\/p>\nThe program, which follows the education and clinical requirements of the American Music Therapy Association, is accredited by the National Association of Schools of Music. Currently, there are about 8,000 board certified music therapists in the U.S., according to the association. Bachelor degree programs, or the equivalent, are offered at about 70 institutions across the country, according the group\u2019s website.<\/p>\n
While music therapy has been an established health profession for more than 70 years, there are still misconceptions about the work music therapists do and the demanding training and certification required to work in the field. Music therapists are much more than musicians who play for residents at assisted-living centers or in the lobby of hospitals.<\/p>\n
\u201cMusic therapists use music-informed interventions to accomplish non-music goals,\u201d explained O\u2019Malley, a 16-year therapist and executive director of Hands in Harmony, in Kingston, Rhode Island. \u201cWe work on goals that are cognitive, communicative, sensorimotor, social, emotional, but we use music \u2013 what music does in the brain \u2013 to accomplish those goals.\u201d<\/p>\n
O\u2019Malley, who earned a master\u2019s degree in music therapy from the Berklee College of Music and a bachelor\u2019s degree in music from Anna Maria College, founded Hands in Harmony in 2003. The practice annually treats more than 2,000 patients with such conditions as autism, Alzheimer\u2019s disease, cancer, chronic pain, and mental-health challenges, including substance-use disorder.<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause music happens in different parts of the brain, it activates different neurological systems and it allows us to accomplish goals in an unexpected way \u2013 and in a preferred way,\u201d said O\u2019Malley. \u201cMusic is something we\u2019re born with, so we\u2019re taking something innate, something that is preferred for the majority of the population, and adding a targeted intervention. We\u2019re using something the patient can already do to train things that they need to know.\u201d<\/p>\n
Many patients with aphasia \u2013 the loss of the ability to understand or express language caused by stroke, traumatic brain injury, or neurodegenerative disease \u2013 have been able to regain speech through music interventions such as singing, which is controlled by a part of the brain separate from the area that controls language.<\/p>\n
Music therapy, as part of regular treatment, has helped children with medical and\/or developmental conditions reach developmental milestones. For people with Parkinson\u2019s disease, cognitive impairment or other related dementias, music can spark the part of the brain that regulates emotion and may improve quality of life while also alleviating other symptoms. Many people with mobility issues caused by stroke or traumatic brain injury are able to regain the ability to walk through rhythmic auditory stimulation gait training, an intervention that uses auditory cues to help time a person\u2019s steps.<\/p>\n
The catalyst for the 溏心vlog免费B站 program came in fall 2016 when Conley was contacted by a hospital erroneously seeking \u201cmusic therapists\u201d to play at the hospital. Conley explained what music therapists actually do and said it would take the University awhile to start such a program. But it got him thinking. His research into the field led him to O\u2019Malley, who was chair of the Rhode Island music therapy task force that successfully advocated for state licensure recognizing music therapists\u2019 national certification at the state level.<\/p>\n
In helping to create the curriculum, O\u2019Malley met with faculty in numerous programs across the University, such as pharmacy, engineering, physical therapy, nursing and the Ryan Institute for Neuroscience, to shape the curriculum. \u201cThe music therapy degree was created using the strengths and established models at 溏心vlog免费B站,\u201d she said, \u201cmaking the degree program unique and innovative with the potential to contribute to the growth of the field of music therapy on the national level.\u201d<\/p>\n
Opening in fall 2020, the new program is expecting a first-year class of about 20 students, Conley says. To be accepted into the program, incoming first-year students will be required to pass a performance audition in their primary instrument. Auditions will begin in December 2019 and run through April 2020. Students are advised to audition early as entrance in the program is expected to be competitive.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
KINGSTON, R.I. \u2013 Aug. 8, 2019 \u2013 Benefiting from decades of research in the field, the 溏心vlog免费B站\u2019s College of Arts and Sciences will launch a rigorous music therapy undergraduate degree in the 2020-21 academic year \u2013 making 溏心vlog免费B站 the first public college or university in New England to offer a bachelor\u2019s degree […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[12],"class_list":["post-74972","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-archives","tag-college-of-arts-and-sciences"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/74972","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=74972"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/74972\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=74972"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=74972"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=74972"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}