Music changes lives, literally. This episode’s guest, Hope Young, greatly believes in this, and she joins host, Carrie Miller, to talk about the power of music therapy to help support those patients coping with treatment. Hope is the founder and president of one of the most technologically advanced music therapy facilities in the world, the Center for Music Therapy, Inc. Here, she takes us into the amazing work they are doing as they celebrate their 30th year. She also helps us understand what music therapy does, especially for those suffering dementia, how the process goes, and how our brains and bodies react. Carrie then lays down the payment options available for this therapy, the ways she is advocating for assisted living and memory care homes, the importance of love and community.

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Listen to the podcast here:

Healing Through Music Therapy And Advocating For Assisted Living With Hope Young

I have the distinct honor of introducing a very special guest. She’s the Founder and President of one of the most technologically advanced music therapy facilities in the world, the Center for Music Therapy in Austin, Texas. She’s also the Executive Producer of the Movement Tracks Project and Executive Director of Soundwell Austin (501c3). She’s been recognized nationally and internationally in such publications as the Journal of the American Medical Association, Shape Magazine, The Wall Street Report and New York Times Bestseller: The Mozart Effect. Her company is celebrating its 30th year, and her vision for the next 30 years boldly leads a new generation in music therapy to create healthier solutions through innovations in music technologies, which bring the power of music to help heal and treat all the isolated and underserved communities of the world. She’s a speaker, consultant and incredible intelligent woman, a full soul who I highly respect. Welcome, Hope Young.

Carrie, you are a delight. I am so thrilled that we have met and honored that you’ve had me on your show. Thank you. I’m delighted to get to speak to your audience.

Let’s start out by sharing with our readers the definition of music therapy.

Music therapy is the use of music for non-music outcomes and treatment like rehabilitation for walking or if you’ve had a stroke or a head injury, for speech recovery. If we talk about it in behavior health, everybody knows to use it to regulate mood, but we also process an awful lot of trauma in a safe way through music. We do so much more than that. In medical, many people have it. They’ve had a music therapist helping with cancer in chemotherapy, reducing pain, getting through surgeries with either no anesthesia or with half a dose of anesthesia compared to what you normally would without music.

There are many things with burn patients to deal with those acid wash fast. There are many uses that I could go on. One of the ones that we are talking about is cognition. People have seen the documentary, Alive Inside, how suddenly somebody who can’t remember who they are, who you are as a daughter, it’s like magic. This veil is pierced and through song, they remember not only who they are, they remember words of the song. They remember what they were doing when they were singing that song or dancing. It all comes back, all those relations and what we call autobiographical memory.

That’s the right side of the brain with all that language and music, correct?

It can be. When you’re talking about certain things like melody recognition, that’s the right side. When we’re talking about autobiographical m...