Music Therapy | History
When did music therapy begin?
The use of music as a healing influence to affect health and behavior is as least as old as the writings of Aristotle and Plato. However, the twentieth-century discipline began during World War I, when both amateur and professional musicians of all types visited veterans' hospitals to perform for the thousands suffering physical and emotional war traumas.
The notable patient responses to music led doctors and nurses to request hospital hiring of musicians, but hospitals soon realized that musicians required training prior to entering medical facilities. Michigan State University responded in 1944, when it offered the first music therapy degree program in the world.
Which organizations have speeded music therapy awareness?
In 1950, the National Association for Music Therapy (NAMT) chartered its membership. In 1971, the American Association for Music Therapy (AAMT) developed. And in 1998, the two groups joined forces to form the »American Music Therapy Association Inc. (AMTA), now representing more than 5,000 music therapists, corporate members, and related associations worldwide.
The AMTA mission is to advance public awareness of the benefits of music therapy and to increase access to quality music therapy services in a rapidly changing world. AMTA sets the educational and clinical training standards for music therapists, as well.
In 1985, the »World Federation of Music Therapy Inc. (WFMT) formed to improve the health and well-being of individuals and populations worldwide through music interventions, promote and develop music therapy as an art and science, and support the global development of clinical practice, education, and research to demonstrate its impact on and contribution to society.
Other Music Therapy Resources
CBMT
Since 1983, the Certification Board for Music Therapists defines the body of knowledge that represents competent practice in the profession of music therapy, creates and administers a program to evaluate competence of this knowledge, issues the credential of Music Therapist-Board Certified, and promotes music therapy certification.
Voices
Voices: A World Forum for Music Therapy supports the discursive practices of music therapists around the world by producing a free first-class online international forum to encourage participation and to nurture the development of music therapy practice, theory, discussion and debate.
WRAMTA
The Western Region Chapter of the American Music Therapy Association Inc. is a regional chapter whose purpose is the advancement of music therapy within Alaska, Arizona, California, Hawaii, Idaho, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, Washington and US territories and outlying areas in the Pacific Ocean.