Ending the music therapy program at the University of North Dakota may mean fewer patients in the state would benefit from the treatment.
Natasha Thomas is a clinical assistant professor in the music therapy program at UND. She says music therapy is an "allied health profession" that is used alongside physical, occupational other therapy with music used as a tool. She says several institutions in the state have hired board certified music therapists - including Valley Memorial Homes, Altru Hospital, and Prairie St. Johns. She says the private practice Music Therapy in Motion serves many patients in the Grand Forks and Fargo areas. Thomas says without UND's music therapy program, institutions looking for music therapists may have trouble recruiting for those positions.
"It's very hard to recruit from outside the state of North Dakota, especially if people aren't familiar with the climate here in more ways than one. A lot of these employers are concerned that if there is no program that is turning out these music therapists in North Dakota that they will have a difficult time recruiting from out of state. The majority of licensed music therapists in North Dakota were trained at UND."
Thomas says there may be some public confusion about what music therapy actually is, but it is in fact a health profession with wide ranging impacts.
"A lot of times people just think it's sitting around in a circle and playing 'kumbaya,' but the reality is that in some of my sessions with my clients I've had parents tell me, 'This is the first time my child has made direct eye contact with another human being,' I've heard people at nursing homes say 'This is the longest I've had my grandmother recognize who I am.' There's some real, tangible changes music therapy has made in people's lives, when it's wielded by qualified professionals, and the University of North Dakota has been a part of that for several years."
Music therapy has been offered at UND for nearly 16 years. It is one of several programs in jeopardy of being dropped due to state budget cuts.