Death is Universal: A Note About Hospice Music Therapy

In the growing field of music therapy, there are many settings in which one can work. Each setting is unique and requires techniques and skills specific to the population that exists within that setting. Music therapists in the special education setting have different goals and interventions than music therapists in a psychiatric setting and both of those differ from music therapy in the medical setting. I have discovered throughout my internship that the hospice setting encompasses aspects from all of the aforementioned settings. If there is one thing that all humans have in common with one another, it's the fact that we will all, at some point, cease to exist. This fact is what makes the hospice setting so diverse. So far, during my internship, I've worked with adults with developmental disabilities and also with patients and families with psychiatric diagnoses including OCD, PTSD, substance abuse, and eating disorders. Of course the goals for music therapy in the hospice setting will differ from those in special education and psychiatric settings, but it is still an interesting point that I've come to realize throughout the first half of my internship.