Of all the creative arts therapies, music therapy may be most familiar to the public, having received the lion’s share of media attention. It’s been widely acknowledged as an especially useful therapeutic modality ever since it was used to help World War II veterans with brain injuries. More recently, a spotlight shone on the successful marriage of music and therapy in the months after the tragic shooting of former Arizona Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords. Because the injury damaged the left side of her brain—the part of the brain that controls speech—the shooting rendered the congresswoman aphasic. Thanks in large part to music therapy, which research has shown can help rewire the pathways in the brain, Giffords was able to progress gradually from singing to speaking once again. It’s a phenomenon highlighted as well in the Oscar-winning film “The King’s Speech,” in which music therapy helped King George VI of England, a lifetime stutterer, find his fluent voice.

Oliver Sacks, perhaps the most well-known proponent of music therapy, observes that music, like scent, can not only tap long-buried memories but also help propel locomotion, thus making it an especially a valuable tool in the treatment of aphasia, Parkinson’s disease, and dementia. In his 2007 book Musicophilia: Tales of Music and the Brain, Sacks points to the healing power of music in cases of Tourette’s and Williams syndromes, seizures, and more.

Board certified music therapists are required to have completed a bachelor’s degree or higher in music therapy from a program approved by the American Music Therapy Association and 1,200 hours of clinical fieldwork.