Sometimes a sound can reach a place that words alone cannot.
Music is deeply connected to the way the brain processes emotion, memory, attention, learning, and reward. Neuroscience research has shown that listening to and engaging with music activates networks across the brain. It can help us access memories and emotions, support regulation and reflection, create space for expression, and explore experiences that hold deep meaning for us.
In therapy, I use music as another doorway into your experience. The type of sounds most commonly used in a music-based psychotherapy session with me — Bilateral, Biolateral, or Support Sounds (drumming, nature, instrumental, meditative, etc.) — may help you access an emotion, reconnect with a part of yourself, process a memory, make meaning of an experience, or feel a sense of grounding.
Bilateral music is often used as a part of EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) therapy. The sound alternates between the left and right sides of the head in a steady, rhythmic pattern. The rhythmic shift is predictable and can be calming to some. Headphones are needed and are provided when sessions are in-person.
Bio-lateral music was created by David Grand, the developer of Brainspotting (BSP), and is used as a part of Brainspotting therapy. It is hand panned to gently move back and forth between ears and is intended to be unpredictable. Many people find it calming while also deepening access to the midbrain for deeper processing. Headphones are needed and are provided when sessions are in-person.
It should be clearly noted that there is a clear and important distinction between Music-based psychotherapy and Music Therapy. Music Therapy is a specific clinical profession practiced by specially trained and credentialed music therapists, and involves the use of creating music, singing, moving to, and/or listening to regular music as therapy. In my sessions, music is incorporated as a creative and experiential tool within psychotherapy to support emotional expression, reflection, memory, grounding, and regulation when appropriate as intervention. With that said, it should be noted that I am trained in Music and the Embodied Therapies as part of my post-clinical continuing education, as well as more than a year of formal music instruction.
What a session involves
Bilateral music is usually woven into EMDR or somatic work rather than used alone. Headphones are recommended for virtual sessions.
