Selected Podcast
What is Music Therapy and How Does it Work
Music can improve mood and support mental health. Christina Pansegrau, Board Certified Music Therapist, discusses music therapy.
Featuring:
Christina Pansegrau, MT-BC
Christy is a Board-Certified Music Therapist at Summit Therapy & Health Services, part of Pullman Regional Hospital, and owner of Sound Harmony Music Therapy in Pullman. She completed her training with the University of North Dakota and passed her board certification in 2015. Christy has served a large variety of populations from dementia care, to stroke and Parkinson’s, and most recently as part of the Pediatric Care Team at Summit Therapy. Transcription:
Evo Terra (Host): As an audio guy, I mean I’m hosting this podcast after all; you probably won’t be surprised to learn that I also have an affinity for music. More importantly, at least to me, is that my musical tastes tend towards the eclectic and my tastes are varied. I know firsthand the power of music to change my own mood and get me through the day. So, I was delighted when I was asked to sit down with Christy Pansegrau, a Board Certified Music Therapist at Summit Therapy and Health Services, part of Pullman Regional Hospital.
This is the Health Podcast, the show by Pullman Regional Hospital. I’m Evo Terra. We should probably begin Christy with the basics. What is music therapy?
Christina Pansegrau, MT-BC (Guest): Well the American Music Therapy Association defines music therapy as the clinical and evidence-based use of music interventions to accomplish individualized goals within the therapeutic relationship. It’s by credentialed professionals who have completed an approved music therapy program. So, what this basically means is that I use specific neurologic impacts that music has to encourage therapeutic change.
So, let’s take rhythm for example. When we dance, we naturally fall on the beat. When we listen to our favorite songs on the radio, we might drive a little faster. Because rhythm is such a strong neurologic stimulus; I can use it to help rehabilitate motor movements or improve speech pacing using research based interventions.
Host: Wow, I had no idea it was that deep and involved. I think I know the answer, but let’s just be clear on this. How is music therapy different from just listening to music?
Christy: So, a lot of people say listening to music is my therapy, right. When we listen to music; we feel good. It can relax us and excite us so it can complement our mood, but many people find listening to music very therapeutic in their own ways because of how the music is processes in the brain. Music is the only stimulus that activates every area of the brain. Just music listening activates not only the music center of your brain, but also your long term memory and it releases the feel good hormones like serotonin and dopamine. But when you are actively engaged in the music making process; then your brain is fully engaged. Your motor centers working together with your brain stem to predict when each motion should occur. You have long and short term memory working together thinking of the melody and what was just played as well as any memories of the song or the act of making music and what those memories bring up.
Your frontal cortex is getting a great cognitive work out. And your speech center is engaged in the lyrics or in the nonverbal communication between you and those you’re making music with. It’s truly a full brain work out. And so, what a music therapist does is take all those natural responses to music making and designs accessible music interventions to target and exercise specific areas of the brain and body to help maximize recovery.
One really famous example is Senator Gabriel Giffords who was shot through her speech center of her brain. Music therapy was a large part of her speech rehabilitation because when you sing, both the speech center and the music center on the other side of the brain light up. So, using the brain’s neuroplasticity her music therapist and speech therapist helped to rewrite the music center of her brain for speech.
Host: This seems to be tickling my latent musician neurons as well as the scientist inside of me. So, I’m totally sold. I’m quitting my job and going back to school to become a music therapist. How does one become a music therapist?
Christy: So, to become a music therapist I attended a university accredited by the American Music Therapy Association. Mine was the University of North Dakota. And then I also completed 1200 hours of supervised clinical training covering everything from pediatric to geriatric care and then I completed a six month internship. Mine was at West Music in Cedar Rapids, Iowa and graduated with my music therapy degree. But we are not done yet. Then I sit down for my board certification exam and now I keep up to date to maintain my certification by completing my continuing education credits.
Host: Yeah okay never mind. That’s too much work and I’m too old. Let’s switch the focus and get down to patients for a moment. Who can benefit from music therapy and I guess I mean what types of diagnoses do you find work well with music therapy?
Christy: That’s a big question. Music therapists work in all kinds of settings from the neonatal intensive care unit to hospice. Because of our brain’s neurologic predisposition to respond to music, literally everyone regardless of ability, music or otherwise, can find benefit in seeing a music therapist. In fact, it’s a common misconception that you have to be good at music or know how to play music to participate in music therapy. But the reality is that you don’t need to know anything about music to have fun and see progress from music therapy.
So, as I said earlier, music therapy can work with everyone. In the NICU, music therapists help premature babies adapt to their sensory environment around them, bond with their mothers and even learn to feed themselves through this device called the PAL, a pacifier activated lullaby. So, what it does is it teaches the baby to feed by every time that it suckles, it will play a recording of their mom singing a lullaby. And that positive reinforcement helps them to learn to feed faster so they can go home sooner.
In the school systems, and even before then, music therapists work with kids who have Down’s Syndrome, William’s Syndrome, Cerebral Palsy, Autism and a whole host of other disabilities. There’s a really large chunk of research out there on how music therapy can work with these populations. Music therapists also work in psych and rehab working with mental health, anxiety, depression, detox and in the hospitals music therapists work with pain management, coping skills, especially with cancer and other really difficult diagnoses.
And I have spent a large part of my career working with Parkinson’s and stroke. I’m super fascinated with how much music can impact these neurologic conditions. And finally, another population that’s been near and dear to my heart is Alzheimer’s and dementia care all the way through hospice and end of life. So, you can see, there are so many different ways that music can help people address a really wide variety of needs.
Host: At the risk of a pun, it sure sounds that way. I’m interested about the pediatric side. I have four grandchildren. So, I’m curious how music therapy works with pediatrics.
Christy: Absolutely. And this is who I primarily see at Summit Therapy. In pediatrics, music therapy is a really highly motivating way to address these goals. So, I co-treat a lot and when I work with our amazing speech pathologists, I use songs to encourage things like specific sound production. So, say they are working on the S sound, I’ll design a song, or I’ll use a song that already exists that hits that target sound as many times as they need to hit their goal for that day. I can also use it for pacing and prosody or using it for changing the inflection in a vocal tone. I can also use music therapy to increase sensory regulation which is really important for autism so that a child’s neurologic needs are met. And their brain can then focus on the work that the therapist I’m co-treating with is trying to ask them to do.
Host: I’m sure in your years as a music therapist, you’ve seen some rather amazing results out there. Can you share one story with us that you found especially impactful in your work?
Christy: Absolutely. There are so many. I have stories about end of life and helping families have a positive community building experience at bedside. And I also have stories about teaching kids social stories so that they can integrate in the classroom. But one of my favorite is about a young man in an adult family home who is primarily nonverbal. We are working on upper arm extensions, getting the arm in and out and he was enabled to engage in this music creation activity with his roommates and I creating this beautiful nonverbal dialogue using music all while meeting these goals for his upper arm extension.
You should have seen the big smile on his face as he got to share the fun, connecting experience where he was heard and understood by those around him, where they were feeding off of each other and what the music says without having to talk at all. I was able to create this experience in such a way that he was able to make choices and be independent. And that’s something that’s really valuable especially for kiddos with disabilities. Music is a really powerful tool and I’m so excited that I get to use it for all these really strong impacts.
Host: And with stories like that I can understand why. Thanks for the information Christy.
Christy: Yeah, no problem.
Host: That’s Christy Pansegrau, a Board Certified Music Therapist at Summit Therapy and Health Services, part of Pullman Regional Hospital. Christy is also the owner of Sound Harmony Music Therapy in Pullman. You can learn more at www.pullmanregional.org. Thank you for listening to this episode of The Health Podcast, the show by Pullman Regional Hospital. I am Evo Terra. If you found this episode helpful, please share it on your social channels. And be sure to check out our entire library of past episodes which you can find at www.pullmanregional.org.
Evo Terra (Host): As an audio guy, I mean I’m hosting this podcast after all; you probably won’t be surprised to learn that I also have an affinity for music. More importantly, at least to me, is that my musical tastes tend towards the eclectic and my tastes are varied. I know firsthand the power of music to change my own mood and get me through the day. So, I was delighted when I was asked to sit down with Christy Pansegrau, a Board Certified Music Therapist at Summit Therapy and Health Services, part of Pullman Regional Hospital.
This is the Health Podcast, the show by Pullman Regional Hospital. I’m Evo Terra. We should probably begin Christy with the basics. What is music therapy?
Christina Pansegrau, MT-BC (Guest): Well the American Music Therapy Association defines music therapy as the clinical and evidence-based use of music interventions to accomplish individualized goals within the therapeutic relationship. It’s by credentialed professionals who have completed an approved music therapy program. So, what this basically means is that I use specific neurologic impacts that music has to encourage therapeutic change.
So, let’s take rhythm for example. When we dance, we naturally fall on the beat. When we listen to our favorite songs on the radio, we might drive a little faster. Because rhythm is such a strong neurologic stimulus; I can use it to help rehabilitate motor movements or improve speech pacing using research based interventions.
Host: Wow, I had no idea it was that deep and involved. I think I know the answer, but let’s just be clear on this. How is music therapy different from just listening to music?
Christy: So, a lot of people say listening to music is my therapy, right. When we listen to music; we feel good. It can relax us and excite us so it can complement our mood, but many people find listening to music very therapeutic in their own ways because of how the music is processes in the brain. Music is the only stimulus that activates every area of the brain. Just music listening activates not only the music center of your brain, but also your long term memory and it releases the feel good hormones like serotonin and dopamine. But when you are actively engaged in the music making process; then your brain is fully engaged. Your motor centers working together with your brain stem to predict when each motion should occur. You have long and short term memory working together thinking of the melody and what was just played as well as any memories of the song or the act of making music and what those memories bring up.
Your frontal cortex is getting a great cognitive work out. And your speech center is engaged in the lyrics or in the nonverbal communication between you and those you’re making music with. It’s truly a full brain work out. And so, what a music therapist does is take all those natural responses to music making and designs accessible music interventions to target and exercise specific areas of the brain and body to help maximize recovery.
One really famous example is Senator Gabriel Giffords who was shot through her speech center of her brain. Music therapy was a large part of her speech rehabilitation because when you sing, both the speech center and the music center on the other side of the brain light up. So, using the brain’s neuroplasticity her music therapist and speech therapist helped to rewrite the music center of her brain for speech.
Host: This seems to be tickling my latent musician neurons as well as the scientist inside of me. So, I’m totally sold. I’m quitting my job and going back to school to become a music therapist. How does one become a music therapist?
Christy: So, to become a music therapist I attended a university accredited by the American Music Therapy Association. Mine was the University of North Dakota. And then I also completed 1200 hours of supervised clinical training covering everything from pediatric to geriatric care and then I completed a six month internship. Mine was at West Music in Cedar Rapids, Iowa and graduated with my music therapy degree. But we are not done yet. Then I sit down for my board certification exam and now I keep up to date to maintain my certification by completing my continuing education credits.
Host: Yeah okay never mind. That’s too much work and I’m too old. Let’s switch the focus and get down to patients for a moment. Who can benefit from music therapy and I guess I mean what types of diagnoses do you find work well with music therapy?
Christy: That’s a big question. Music therapists work in all kinds of settings from the neonatal intensive care unit to hospice. Because of our brain’s neurologic predisposition to respond to music, literally everyone regardless of ability, music or otherwise, can find benefit in seeing a music therapist. In fact, it’s a common misconception that you have to be good at music or know how to play music to participate in music therapy. But the reality is that you don’t need to know anything about music to have fun and see progress from music therapy.
So, as I said earlier, music therapy can work with everyone. In the NICU, music therapists help premature babies adapt to their sensory environment around them, bond with their mothers and even learn to feed themselves through this device called the PAL, a pacifier activated lullaby. So, what it does is it teaches the baby to feed by every time that it suckles, it will play a recording of their mom singing a lullaby. And that positive reinforcement helps them to learn to feed faster so they can go home sooner.
In the school systems, and even before then, music therapists work with kids who have Down’s Syndrome, William’s Syndrome, Cerebral Palsy, Autism and a whole host of other disabilities. There’s a really large chunk of research out there on how music therapy can work with these populations. Music therapists also work in psych and rehab working with mental health, anxiety, depression, detox and in the hospitals music therapists work with pain management, coping skills, especially with cancer and other really difficult diagnoses.
And I have spent a large part of my career working with Parkinson’s and stroke. I’m super fascinated with how much music can impact these neurologic conditions. And finally, another population that’s been near and dear to my heart is Alzheimer’s and dementia care all the way through hospice and end of life. So, you can see, there are so many different ways that music can help people address a really wide variety of needs.
Host: At the risk of a pun, it sure sounds that way. I’m interested about the pediatric side. I have four grandchildren. So, I’m curious how music therapy works with pediatrics.
Christy: Absolutely. And this is who I primarily see at Summit Therapy. In pediatrics, music therapy is a really highly motivating way to address these goals. So, I co-treat a lot and when I work with our amazing speech pathologists, I use songs to encourage things like specific sound production. So, say they are working on the S sound, I’ll design a song, or I’ll use a song that already exists that hits that target sound as many times as they need to hit their goal for that day. I can also use it for pacing and prosody or using it for changing the inflection in a vocal tone. I can also use music therapy to increase sensory regulation which is really important for autism so that a child’s neurologic needs are met. And their brain can then focus on the work that the therapist I’m co-treating with is trying to ask them to do.
Host: I’m sure in your years as a music therapist, you’ve seen some rather amazing results out there. Can you share one story with us that you found especially impactful in your work?
Christy: Absolutely. There are so many. I have stories about end of life and helping families have a positive community building experience at bedside. And I also have stories about teaching kids social stories so that they can integrate in the classroom. But one of my favorite is about a young man in an adult family home who is primarily nonverbal. We are working on upper arm extensions, getting the arm in and out and he was enabled to engage in this music creation activity with his roommates and I creating this beautiful nonverbal dialogue using music all while meeting these goals for his upper arm extension.
You should have seen the big smile on his face as he got to share the fun, connecting experience where he was heard and understood by those around him, where they were feeding off of each other and what the music says without having to talk at all. I was able to create this experience in such a way that he was able to make choices and be independent. And that’s something that’s really valuable especially for kiddos with disabilities. Music is a really powerful tool and I’m so excited that I get to use it for all these really strong impacts.
Host: And with stories like that I can understand why. Thanks for the information Christy.
Christy: Yeah, no problem.
Host: That’s Christy Pansegrau, a Board Certified Music Therapist at Summit Therapy and Health Services, part of Pullman Regional Hospital. Christy is also the owner of Sound Harmony Music Therapy in Pullman. You can learn more at www.pullmanregional.org. Thank you for listening to this episode of The Health Podcast, the show by Pullman Regional Hospital. I am Evo Terra. If you found this episode helpful, please share it on your social channels. And be sure to check out our entire library of past episodes which you can find at www.pullmanregional.org.