What Music Therapy Really Looks Like: Goals We Work Toward
What does music therapy really look like? A board-certified music therapist explains common goals addressed in sessions, from social skills and attention to emotional expression and motor development, across populations from children to hospice care.
8/21/20252 min read
One of the biggest misconceptions about music therapy is that it’s just about playing instruments and singing songs for fun. While sessions often include joyful music-making, music therapy is not the same as recreational music.
As a board-certified music therapist (MT-BC), I use specific elements of music — key, tone, instrumentation, lyrics, melody, rhythm, and more — to work toward measurable behavioral, emotional, cognitive, physical, and social changes. Every intervention is designed with clinical goals in mind, supported by research and tailored to the individual.
Who Music Therapists Work With
Music therapists are trained to work with a wide range of ages and populations, from:
NICU babies
Children and teens with Autism Spectrum Disorder, Down Syndrome, developmental delays, or rehabilitative needs
(Young) Adults with mental health needs, traumatic brain injury, or physical rehabilitation goals
Older adults experiencing Alzheimer’s or dementia
Individuals in hospice care, and more
Different populations bring different needs, but the foundation of music therapy is always the same: using music as a clinical tool to support health, growth, and quality of life.
Common Music Therapy Goals
Here are just some of the goals and objectives I currently target with my caseload:
To increase social skills (making eye contact, 1-on-1 interactions, turn taking, etc.)
To increase self-regulation
To improve attention skills (focused, sustained, switching, etc.)
To provide opportunities for creative expression
To increase mental/emotional orientation
To increase novel ideation
To improve emotion identification
To improve fine motor skills
To provide opportunities for engagement with others
To improve emotion exploration
To improve gross motor skills
To improve executive functioning (memory, cognitive flexibility, etc.)
To increase inhibition skills
To improve academic skills (math, english, etc.)
To provide opportunities for structured group engagement
To improve articulation of vowels/consonants
To provide opportunities for initiation of social contact
To improve decision making skills
Every intervention — whether it’s improvisation, songwriting, lyric analysis, or instrument play — is mapped to a clinical goal like these.
Beyond My Caseload
The goals listed above reflect the populations I currently serve. But music therapists in other settings — inpatient/outpatient hospitals, NICU, schools, rehabilitation centers — may target a completely different set of objectives.
What unites us is a commitment to evidence-based practice. As MT-BCs, we are responsible for continuing education, staying up to date on research, and adapting interventions to meet each client’s needs.
The Bottom Line
Music therapy is far more than simply singing or playing along. It is a clinical, evidence-based profession that uses music intentionally to create change. Whether working with infants, children, adults, or older adults, music therapists help people build skills, find connection, and improve quality of life through the power of music.