Music Therapy
What Is Music Therapy All About?
Sometimes words simply just aren’t enough. When you’re in pain, it can feel impossible, or even overwhelming, to talk about what’s going on inside. Or it can feel like just talking about what bothers you won’t bring on the change that you are looking for.
For those moments, healing often needs a different approach that reaches beyond words and gives you space to feel, express, and release what’s been held inside.
Music Therapy can help you connect with yourself in a deeper, more authentic way. And, you don’t need any musical background or talent— just a willingness to be present and open to what the music reveals.
Music therapy opens a door to express what words often can’t. Some emotions feel too heavy to talk about. Others are buried so deep you might not even realize they’re there. Music has a way of bringing those feelings to the surface, but in a way that is more gentle and safe.
One unique approach we use is called the Bonny Method of Guided Imagery and Music (BMGIM). It’s an advanced form of music therapy that combines mindfulness and psychotherapy through carefully chosen music. This experience gives you the chance to connect with your inner strengths, release stress your body has been holding, and process difficult emotions without getting stuck in overthinking.
Our music therapist is trained in both music therapy and talk therapy. Talking is still an essential part and happens throughout the BMGIM process, helping you explore what comes up during the music experience and understand how it connects to your healing.
When Did This Become An Effective Form Of Treatment
Music therapy traces its roots back to the aftermath of World War I when soldiers returned home with trauma and PTSD (known then as “shell shock”). Hospital staff noticed the positive impact music had on the mental health of their patients and started to integrate it into therapy and their rehabilitative programs.
Though this therapeutic model’s origins can be traced back to the use of music in healthcare settings, it has since become a sophisticated treatment modality over the years. The first music therapy college training program was established in 1944. The National Association for Music Therapy was formed in 1950, and subsequently, the American Music Therapy Association in 1998.
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How Our Approach To Music Therapy Works
In your first session, you and your music therapist will take time to talk about what really matters to you—what you hope to heal, change, or better understand about yourself. From there, the music becomes a tool to help you reach those goals, but it’s never something you’re forced into. Some sessions might not include music at all, and that’s perfectly okay. It’s still music therapy, because the heart of the work is your connection with a therapist who understands how music can reach places words sometimes can’t.
For some people, music becomes their language. They sing, play, or create freely as a means of expressing and processing what is going on for them. For others, the process starts more quietly, maybe just noticing what feelings arise in response to music or identifying a song that connects to what they are going through. Every step is guided by where you are emotionally, allowing music to meet you there - whether it’s a gentle companion or a deeper channel for expression and healing.
How Can Music Therapy Help?
Music therapy can be especially powerful if you’ve tried other forms of therapy but never quite felt the shift you were hoping for—or if opening up in a traditional setting feels hard. Instead of focusing only on thoughts, music therapy invites your whole self into the process. It engages your senses, deepens your emotional experience, and helps you connect with feelings that words alone can’t always reach.
Just like a song can instantly take you back to a moment in time or stir emotions you didn’t realize were still there, music in therapy helps you access the deeper layers of yourself. You may begin to uncover patterns, beliefs, or memories that quietly shape how you feel and act.
In this way, music therapy doesn’t just manage the surface symptoms—it helps you get to the heart of what’s really happening, bringing healing from the inside out.
Music therapy offers a gentle, holistic way to work through life’s challenges - without pressure, judgment, or fear of saying the “right” thing. It can help you explore the parts of yourself that feel complicated or hard to untangle, including your relationships, identity, and sense of belonging. Many people come to music therapy as they heal from trauma, make sense of painful childhood experiences, or recover from struggles with food and body image.
Through music, you too can learn to manage powerful emotions like grief, anger, depression, worry, and anxiety. It can help you notice old patterns, interrupt unhelpful habits, and begin to build new ways of relating—to others and to yourself. Over time, you may find yourself feeling more grounded, connected, and in control of your choices and your life.
What Can You Take Away From Music Therapy?
Music therapy helps you see yourself more clearly. Each session is designed to help you gain deeper insight into your thoughts, emotions, and experiences—so you can better understand the “why” and “how” behind what you feel or do. The music itself helps create a sense of safety and ease, allowing the process to unfold naturally without forcing anything.
While the music guides much of the work, your therapist is there to help you stay grounded and make meaning of what comes up. Whether you’re moving through a breakup, struggling with hopelessness, or just feeling stuck, the sounds become a bridge between your emotions and your awareness, helping you find new perspective and relief.
Even if you’ve talked about your challenges before, music therapy helps you approach them in a new way—one that goes beyond words. The music holds space for what’s hard to express, so you can explore painful emotions without feeling overwhelmed or lost in them.
Because it’s a sensory, experiential process, the insights and changes that come from music therapy tend to last. You begin to shift from the inside out—feeling more balanced, more connected, and more in control.
At LaunchPad Counseling, we’re passionate about helping you heal through both music and traditional therapy. Many people say they start to feel lighter or more hopeful after just a few sessions. Over time, that sense of possibility grows—and so does your confidence in the changes you’re creating for yourself.
Our Background With Music Therapy And Mental Health
Allie Longworth, MT-BC, has provided Music Therapy at LaunchPad Counseling for over five years. Allie started studying music therapy in 2012 and has been a board-certified music therapist since 2016. After graduating from Radford University, Allie continued on the music therapy journey through graduate school, and further post-graduate training in BMGIM. Allie is currently on track to become an internationally recognized Fellow of BMGIM.
Allie is happy to work on a treatment team with prescribers, dietitians, or other professionals. In working with minors, Allie joins the parents and the client as a team that works together for the best interest of the client, always respecting that person’s confidentiality as much as is reasonably possible.
“I know deeply the power of the healing process to transform and allow people to change in ways they did not think were possible. I've done my own healing work and am grateful to therapists, mentors, and supervisors who came along before me and walked this path with me so that I may walk it with others."
—Allie Longworth
Does Music Therapy Resonate With You?
If you’re looking for a safe and alternative way of healing and overcoming challenges, LaunchPad Counseling has a unique solution for you. Please call (804) 665-4681, Email , or Contact Us to set up your online or in-person intake session and learn more about how we integrate music therapy into the healing process.