Music Therapy is the professional use of music and all of its auxiliary elements of sound, rhythm, melody and harmony by a qualified music therapist in a process designed to facilitate and promote communication, relationships, learning, expression, mobilisation, organisation and other relevant therapeutic objectives in order to meet emotional, mental, social, physical and cognitive needs for individual clients or groups. Music therapy aims to develop potential and restore functions of an individual in order for them to achieve better intra- and inter-personal integration and consequently, a better quality of life through prevention, rehabilitation or treatment.

• What are the benefits of Music Therapy?
• Who can benefit from Music Therapy?
• Why choose Music Therapy?
• Current methods in Music Therapy used in my practice.

What are the benefits of Music Therapy?

• Improving fine and gross motor skills
• Increasing concentration and focus
• Expressing emotions
• Increasing self-confidence
• Coping with loss or trauma
• Improving social skills

Who can benefit from Music Therapy?

Children, adolescents and adults with:

• Mental health needs
• Developmental, learning, and physical disabilities
• Alzheimer's disease and other conditions related to aging
• Substance abuse problems
• Brain injuries
• Acute chronic pain and depression or other emotional needs

Why choose Music Therapy?

• We are all musical beings and we respond to music on all levels, including psychologically, neurologically, physiologically, emotionally, spiritually and socially.
• Music Therapy is a unique, safe, non-threatening and fun way to face issues that would otherwise hamper the quality of life.
• No verbal communication is required in cases where language is not accessible, or where speaking is not an option, or where the client does not want to talk. Music is an indirect route to access subconscious content.
• The client does not require musical training, since in therapy we use music as the tool to reach a non-musical goal. Creativity includes experimenting with sounds, timbres, instruments and other modes of music such as the voice and movement.
• It encourages creativity through experimentation with sounds, timbres, instruments and other modes of music such as the voice and movement.
• It focuses on client potential rather than the deficits in a client’s situation.

Current methods in Music Therapy used in my practice:

• Music and Imagery (Continuum Model)
• Guided Imagery in Music (GIM)
• Creative Music Therapy
• Positive Psychology
• Mandala Assessment Research Instrument (MARI)
• Community Music Therapy

Petra the person

Petra the person

I see myself first and foremost as a mother because it is through raising my children that I have learnt the most about myself, others and their needs, and how to handle any possible situation that life may unexpectedly pose.

My biggest passion is music. I am one of seven children and singing and making music was part of our daily lives. Before starting my journey with Music Therapy, I was a music teacher. I enjoyed, and still do enjoy, teaching music, conducting choirs, arranging music, preparing children for musical examinations and eisteddfods and even composing the odd song.

An integral part of being a music teacher, was lending an ear to the individual needs of each child coming into the classroom. This ultimately led me to pursue a career where I could combine the transcendent power of music with the positive healing of therapy.

Forever the student, I have completed an MA Positive Psychology degree and I am currently starting research for a PhD. There is a good marriage between Positive Psychology and Music Therapy, and combining these fields is greatly beneficial for clients as the work we can do in therapy is now multi-dimensional and always strengthening and rewarding.

Music is my strength, my solace and my passion. I feel blessed that God has granted me the opportunity to realise my dream of helping others through music.

Petra the professional

Petra is a Music Therapist working as a private practitioner in Strand, Western Cape, South Africa. Her clients range from infants to retirees. She has worked with Cerebral Palsy (CP), Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV), Guillain-Barré Syndrome, Alzheimer's, autism, dementia, depression, stroke survivors, grief, physically and mentally disabled, and, most recently and predominantly, substance use disorder. She has a special interest in research while practicing the use of MI and GIM in the substance use disorder setting and is actively exploring the correlations and dual augmentations between MI and GIM, and Positive Psychology.

Qualifications

B. MUS (Education) – UPE (now NMU) 1988

M. MUS (Music Therapy) UP 2014. Mini dissertation: Music Therapy for second language English-speaking learners in an English-medium school: a case study

MA (Positive Psychology) cum laude (NWU) 2019. Mini dissertation: Guided imagery, music and well-being: A systematic literature review

CERTIFIED CHILD AND ADOLESCENT TRAUMA COUNSELOR UNISA 2013

CERTIFIED MARI PRACTITIONER (Mandala Assessment Research Instrument) 2015

CERTIFIED GUIDED IMAGERY AND MUSIC THERAPIST (Association for Music and Imagery, USA) 2017

CERTIFIED MUSIC AND IMAGERY THERAPIST (Institude for Music and Consciousness, USA) 2021

Memberships

HPCSA (AT 0001058)

GIM Fellow of EAMI (European Association for Music and Imagery)

SANATA (South African National Arts Therapists Association)

MARI (Mandala Assessment Research Instrument) - South Africa

GIM (Guided Imagery in Music) - South Africa

SA-ACAPAP South African Association for Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Allied Professions (Mpumalanga representative)

Publications

Articles

Exploring Guided Imagery and Music as a well-being intervention: A systematic literature review
(Taylor & Francis Online)

Magazine: Sodat jy beter kan hoor, my kind.
(Bella 2017)

Magazine: Fleur-de-lis leer die waarde van musiekterapie.
(Malieveld 2016)

Magazine: Healing Notes.
(Get It 2014)

Jerling, P. (2020). Guided Imagery and Music and psychological well-being of clients with (substance induced) mental health problems.
(World Federation of Music Therapy 2020)

Academic presentations

Paper: Music Therapy defined and put into perspective in terms of its use within the educational environment. (PASMAE 2015)

Paper: The Effect of MUSIC THERAPY (GIM) on the PSYCHOLOGICAL WELL-BEING of ADOLESCENTS. (SA-ACAPAP 2019)

Paper: Using Music and Imagery across cultures: reflections from case studies (World Congress of Music Therapy 2020)

Paper: Involving the whole in treating the one: applying a systematic approach in individual music therapy (roundtable) (World Congress of Music Therapy 2020)

Paper: Building bridges through music therapy for sensory integration of a child on the autistic spectrum: a case study (SA-ACAPAP 2021)

Poster: The benefits of music therapy as adjunctive treatment for a client suffering from Guillain-Barré syndrome. (SAMTA Music Therapy Showcase 2014)

Poster: The possible positive outcomes of Guided Imagery and Music on psychological well-being: a systematic literature review. (OPTENTIA 2018)