When Ball State University music education instructor Amy Hourigan first heard about music therapy, she was puzzled.
"I thought, 'Music therapy-what's that?'" she said. "I thought people were standing around singing kumbaya."
Hourigan quickly learned otherwise: Music therapy is an established, evidence-based healthcare profession that uses music interventions to address individual needs, according to the American Music Therapy Association. Music interventions vary from singing, playing instruments, writing music and dancing. The therapy is frequently used to treat people with developmental and learning disabilities, Alzheimer's disease, substance abuse problems, brain injuries, physical disabilities and acute and chronic pain.
Because her own two children have autism, Hourigan became interested-so interested, in fact, that she went back to school at Eastern Michigan University and became a board-certified music therapist.
Music therapy is an undergraduate program offered at only four schools in Indiana: University of Evansville, IUPUI, IPFW and St. Mary of the Woods College. It includes classes in music therapy, psychology, improvisation, special education and music, along with a six-month internship.
One of the most inspiring music therapy sessions Hourigan has witnessed happened during her internship, she said. Her colleague was playing guitar for a woman who was recovering from an operation. The monitor next to her hospital bed showed her vital statistics.
"He started playing guitar, and I just watched the numbers move," Hourigan said. "Her blood pressure dropped, oxygen saturation levels increased, and her heart rate slowed down."
Hourigan said this experience reaffirmed her conviction that music therapy can make significant changes in people's lives.
"It's amazing, and it's all because of music," she said. "It seems a little out there at first, but it amazes me everyday."
Hourigan has been in Muncie for two years with her husband, Ryan, who is a music professor at Ball State. She is the only practicing music therapist in the area and said the community has welcomed her help.
"People are surprisingly more open to it than I thought," she said. "Music therapy can really be adapted to so many situations. The key is just using music to help people with their goals."
Hourigan works with a variety of patients, from children in Muncie schools to adults in nursing homes and rehabilitation centers. Session activities also vary. For example, with small children who need to learn to be more cooperative, Hourigan might have them sing along to a song about the task they are trying to accomplish: If they are getting in a circle, they might sing a song about getting in a circle.
She also helps children meet their educational and social goals. She is working with a boy with autism by having him learn to play guitar. This helps him concentrate and express himself, as well as helps with his fine motor skills.
Hourigan said music therapy should not be thought of as an alternative to medication or other therapies; rather, it is complimentary to other therapies, she said.
"Physical therapy, speech therapy, occupational therapy... those are all very important," she said. "but we can add something special with the music aspect of it because humans are born musical."
Connecting to people through music is effective, she said, because it gives patients more motivation and interest to complete the therapy.
"You don't have to do it with words," she said. "You can do it with music."
Hourigan said she hopes more people become aware of her field, so they know their options if they ever need therapy, for physical, mental or emotional reasons.
"I just think music therapy is the greatest," she said. "I always feel like I'm a little music therapy cheerleader, but I've just seen the amazing things it can do. I feel so lucky and happy that I joined the group."
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