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Question by Slapstick82: How would you describe music therapy to someone?
I’m going to school for music therapy. I know what it is, but when people ask me what my major is then say, oh what’s that? I’m not totally sure how to answer them. How would you describe music therapy to someone? This website http://careersthatdontsuck.com/2007/03/30/career-profile-music-therapist/ explains it pretty well, but I can’t keep recommending people look there for an explanation. I feel bad when I have to answer “well I don’t know how to explain it”.

Please respond like you’re answering the following question;

“So you’re in college?”
“Yes. I go to —”
“Oh, cool. What’s your major?”
“Music therapy.”
“–Blank expression– What’s that?”

Best answer:

Answer by Evokal
Since this is a field that is still being discovered, it and it’s results aren’t widely known to the general public yet. It can be compared to massage therapy where the results have proven to be enormously beneficial, yet there is a stigma associated with it due to varying methods of practice, none of which are fully agreed upon as the proper method (in time this will change as acceptance and knowlege grow).

The trick in this field is to know without a doubt what it is that you are able to provide to the patient. I take it that you love music and that it has helped you overcome things in the past. Realizing that you can share this with others must be very exciting!

Music is such a powerful and untapped tool. I encourage you to take what you’ve learned in school and expand on it in your own personal way. Doing so will help you discover more of what it is you’re actually trying to achieve, and will set you apart from the rest in what you provide.

In a nutshell I look at it this way: you help people with hindrances tap into and conquer hidden emotion linked with fear, using the tool of music.

So you could say, “I help people conquer their fears, using the emotional tool of music.”

Good luck!

Know better? Leave your own answer in the comments!