Music as Medicine: CSUN Music Therapy program offers a multi-faceted approach to an emerging profession

Music is one of life’s joys. There is no doubt that hearing a beloved piece of music, whether live or recorded, can calm and soothe and bring us to life.  

And there is a discipline, a career even, that harnesses the power of music to heal. Music therapy is a clinical and evidence-based use of music interventions to accomplish individualized goals within a therapeutic relationship by a credentialed professional who has completed an approved music therapy program, according to the American Music Therapy Association (AMTA). And CSUN has one of the country’s most unique music therapy programs.  

Music Therapy is a board-certified profession
Hilary Yip is the Director of the CSUN Music Therapy program and also the director of the CSUN Music Therapy Wellness Clinic. “Music therapy is a therapeutic relationship with clinician who is board-certified in music therapy, working toward a specific goal with an individual to meet their needs, using evidence-based music interventions to target those needs,” Yip emphasizes.

The value of music therapy has been researched extensively, with various clinical populations, and its benefits broadly can be therapeutic for cognitive communication, motor and physical skills, emotional, social and mental health, according to Yip. “Specifically, music therapy can help someone speak or walk after a brain injury. It could help someone learn how to socialize and take turns working as a team, how to make decisions, plan and sequence. It could also be learning how to express emotions. Academically it could be learning the alphabet, learning about numbers, learning how to write one’s name. And it could be learning to play an instrument as a coping skill.

“The benefits of music therapy depend on who is receiving the therapy. That could be children who are neurodiverse, people with mental health diagnoses, adults with Alzheimer's or Parkinson's, people with traumatic brain injuries, stroke or post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).”

Music can impact our bodies and our brains like no other medium, Yip explains. “Our bodies innately move to music. Even infants, who have not been taught to move to music; when you play a beat, their movements become regular. Music impacts all areas of the brain, especially the basal ganglia, where dopamine is produced. And because it has that impact, we can build and strengthen neural pathways, slow the progress of diseases like Alzheimer's and strengthen the connections in the brain for children with autism.”

For individuals with PTSD, coping with emotions such as anxiety is challenging, and music can  build tolerance for sounds (which are often triggering) as well as provide a creative outlet:  “Songwriting, listening or improvising music, or singing can help these individuals express their emotions, process those emotions, reflect on those emotions, and then be able to turn around and say, ‘OK, so I have all these emotions. What are some coping strategies that I can create or use with music?’” Music therapists also must learn (or be proficient in) singing, piano, guitar, ukulele and percussion instruments, so those classes are offered as well.  

There are many success stories, and a well-known one is Senator Gabby Gifford, who was shot during a speech in Arizona more than a decade ago. “She was working with a speech therapist and a music therapist, trying to get her words back,” says Professor Yip, “but it wasn’t until they sang a song together (“This Little Light of Mine”) that she was able to start finding the words. Sometimes it’s easier to sing it than say it.”

A 360-degree education
What’s unique about the CSUN Music Therapy program is that it offers instruction and music therapy equivalency coursework  to students along with opportunities to gain experience in the field and observe professional clinicians at work through its Wellness Clinic, where trained clinicians provide music therapy services to the public.

Music Therapy is a degree program within the music department, founded by Ronald M. Borczon, a CSUN music professor who retired a couple years ago. “Professor Borczon started the program and the clinic, aligning them carefully with the AMTA, the accrediting body,” says Dan Hosken, Dean of the CSUN Mike Curb College of Arts, Media and Communication. “The goal was to graduate students who are prepared for the music therapy board certification and ready to work in the field.”

As a result, CSUN Music Therapy students get a degree in a well-defined profession and, because of their time in the Wellness Clinic, their practicum and their internships, have experience working with a wide variety of patients. “There is an acceptance of this kind of therapy, especially here in California,” Dean Hosken adds, “so CSUN students — who I find are always looking toward the future — can see a way to forge their creative impulses into a successful career.”    

Marcela Carmona Is one of those students. Currently in their third semester, they will earn their bachelor’s degree in Fall 2025, after completing a music therapy internship, and will commence in Spring 2025. Now 44, Carmona is a returning student at CSUN, having dropped out 20 years ago for mental health reasons.  But there was never any question about their devotion to music.  

“I started music when I was 3,” Carmona says, “and I have always been aware that music has a profound effect on everyone.” They discovered they had a knack for teaching very young children, and wherever they lived, was able to pursue work as a music teacher. “I noticed I was having great success with kids who were neurodiverse, whose parents told me they were benefitting from the outlet music gave them to express themselves. I started thinking maybe there was more I could do.”

But they hit roadblocks when seeking higher-level jobs. “They all wanted a degree. And I started thinking, Why don’t I have a degree?  The answer was that I was on my own healing journey, a survivor of childhood abuse and domestic violence; I understood the relationship between people and their therapist,” and the CSUN program seemed made to order. “But still, I was afraid I might get triggered and the anxiety would come back.”

Instead, with the help of their therapist and their work as a cantor, Carmona came to realize they were meant to do this work. After their internship and graduation, Carmona wants to pursue a master’s and work with veterans. “Music therapy should be used much more widely, and the roots of trauma really come from that population. I want to give back to them.”   

Professor Yip believes that music therapy is all about giving back. “Most people who come into music therapy—and I’m one of them—say they want to use music to help people.” And between the well-structured program, the Wellness Clinic that provides students the experience of seeing music therapy happen, and the three choirs for various ages and neurodiversity, the possibilities are endless.

To learn more about the Music Therapy program, go to https://w2.csun.edu/mike-curb-arts-media-communication/music/programs/music-therapy. To find out more about the Wellness Clinic, send an email to csunmtwc@csun.edu.