Music therapy is defined as a way of promoting health through music experiences. The field has emerged as a clinical profession in the mid 20th century, offering its services to a variety of ailed individuals. Music therapists seek to assist those with both physical and emotional needs. Neonatal patients, terminal patients with cancer, autistic children, and grieving individuals can all be helped via the services that music therapy has to offer. However, the lack of state recognition for music therapy precludes it from becoming an allied health profession, equitable with speech and physical therapies, amongst others. This threatens the security of patients as it fails to place restrictions on those who falsely claim to be music therapists, as well as it decreases access to music therapy due to the lack of funding being funneled into this field. The general public is called upon to advocate for state recognition, by appealing to legislators, as well as educating others about the definitive intricacies and parameters of the music therapy field.
