I usually don't stop. That's what many of them want to do is experience those feelings in a container where they can be held. The music provides that container for them. The music is what makes the therapy more powerful than other forms of counseling, said Pearson, who also works with dying patients or those who have suffered great loss. I would say that music has the capability to reach people where other means of communication may not.
Many music therapists are musicians who perform outside of work.
But their psychological training is just as important as their musical talents, Pearson said, noting that with a suicidal patient, for instance, a therapist would have to know where not to go. The Adams County Mental Health Center is one of those, where Boulder resident Jim Markham works as a music therapist in Child and Family Services. Markham teaches adolescents in a day treatment center how to create music and lyrics as therapy. At the same time, in this process, we're addressing all of the basic social skills and treatment goals. To make music together, they need to listen to each other.