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W W W. M A I N E B I Z . B I Z 19 S E P T E M B E R 1 7 , 2 0 1 8 F O C U S H E A L T H C A R E in 1983. erapists are required to have knowledge of medicine, psychology and music, but those they're treating need not have a musical background. e therapy involves the use of music — from listening and moving to melodies and rhythms to singing, songwriting and playing instruments — to meet specific physical, emotional, cognitive and social goals. Attending a concert or listening to an iPod in one's room isn't music therapy, there has to be an intervention by a credentialed therapist who gives personalized care and can tweak the treatment as needed — like, for example, if a melody trig- gers a bad memory. While most commonly used in mental health, music therapy is also used to help people with Alzheimer's and dementia, cancer, developmental disabilities and neurological disorders such as Parkinson's disease, as well as pain management and coping with everyday stress. Beever underscores that music therapy enhances and complements traditional medicine, and works because of its effect on all parts of the brain, saying: "Music fires up the memory center of your brain, the emotional side and the analytic side. It also locks into rhythm — that's the math side — and brings up all these feelings, so it's really motivating for people." at's increasingly backed up by medical research and success stories like that of former U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, who suffered a traumatic gunshot wound to the brain in 2011 but regained her speech through music therapy. Dr. Oliver Sacks, the late British neurologist portrayed by Robin Williams in the film "Awakenings," also brought attention to music's medicinal benefits in his 2007 book "Musicophilia: Tales of Music and the Brain." Demands — and rewards — of the profession erapists, who are required to have knowledge of music, medicine and psy- chology, provided services to more than 1.2 million people nationwide in 2013, at more than 29,000 facilities, and earned an average hourly rate of $69 for group services and $64 an hour for individual services, according to the 2014 American Music erapy Association annual sur- vey and workforce analysis report. Full-time music therapists work- ing 45 or more hours a week earned an average salary of $50,808, depending on the region, with four out of seven regions reporting increases since 2013. In New England, the average sal- ary was $56,651, with a range between $30,000 and $100,000. Visit us at MartinsPoint.org P R I M A R Y A N D S P E C I A LT Y C A R E H E A LT H C A R E C E N T E R S We serve patients of all ages in southern Maine and New Hampshire and accept most major health insurance plans. M E D I C A R E G E N E R AT I O N S A D VA N TA G E We offer Medicare Advantage insurance plans for seniors in Maine and New Hampshire. T R I C A R E ® U S FA M I LY H E A LT H P L A N We offer a TRICARE Prime option for military families throughout the Northeast. People Caring for People ...providing the highest-quality CARE and COVERAGE to our community in Maine and beyond. C O N T I N U E D O N F O L L OW I N G PA G E » S O U R C E : 2014 American Music Therapy Association Member Survey & Workforce Analysis POPULATIONS SERVED BY MUSIC THERAPY Mental health: 20% (includes behavioral disorder, eating disorders, emotionally disturbed, forensic, mental health, post-traumatic stress disorder and substance abuse) Developmentally disabled: 14.7% (includes autism spectrum, developmentally disabled and Rett Syndrome) Medical/surgical: 11.2% (includes AIDS, cancer, chronic pain, comatose, medical/surgical and terminally ill) Elderly & Alzheimer's: 9.3% Neurological disorders: 6% (includes Parkinson's and neurologically impaired) All others: 38.8% 20% 14.7% 11.2% 9.3% 6% 38.8%

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