What is Therapeutic Music Entertainment?
Therapeutic Music Entertainment (TME) is a musical performance or activity which, by virtue of its diversion, amusement and/or engaging qualities, promotes healing.
KidLinks provides Therapeutic Music Entertainment in two ways:
- In person, by sending our entertainers to visit children at hospitals and special care centers around the country.
- Online, through our Media Center. We believe children should have access to the healing power of music anytime, anywhere.
How is Therapeutic Music Entertainment different from Music Therapy?
Therapeutic Music Entertainment and Music Therapy have some elements in common. The music and musician serve their purpose in a meaningful and important way, through pain diversion, mood elevation, and creating a pleasant environment.
Some benefits of TME include the following:
- TME can impact many patients in a short amount of time (a song or two
bedside and then on to the next room). Keeping patients and families happy
and calm is vital, especially in a hospital setting. - TME can also share live music that a patient can listen to on their own any
time through our Media Center.
Music Therapy goes a few steps further. A music therapist:
- Evaluates, adjusts, measures, creates and improvises continuously throughout a music therapy session.
- Looks not only at the outcomes and responses in the moment, but also at the long-term.
- Uses behavior management techniques and principles from ABA, cognitive-behavioral therapy, NMT, GIM, etc.
- Examines motivators for a client and uses those as building
blocks for outcomes. - Uses a complex web of tools to help patients and this takes
time, experience, and continual training.
While TME concentrates on impact through performance, MT concentrates on impact through process. Both are an important part of the healing process in hospital settings.