Musical Minds

Supporting Adults With Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s Through

Neurologic Music Therapy (NMT)

Do you or a loved one live with Parkinson’s? Alzheimer’s?

Are You Struggling With?…

• gait control and fluid movements

• motor planning

• cognitive function: memory, executive function, language

• reality orientation

• speech and communication

• respiratory muscle strength

• social interaction with individuals having similar experiences

• motivation and self-confidence

• opportunities for creative self-expression

• emotional regulation and/or depression

Musical Minds is a group therapy program for individuals with Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s, where participants engage in evidence-based music-making in a fun and safe environment. The program aims to enhance various goals, including cognitive function, memory, reality orientation, speech and language, self-expression, motor skills, gait and respiratory control, social connections, confidence, emotional regulation, and more.

We also welcome and highly encourage family members and partners to join in the music making session.

What to expect?

Participants will have an equal opportunity to express themselves through music, including playing instruments, songwriting, singing, and adapting movements to their preferred music—no musical skills required.

Musical Minds emphasizes evidence-based research in NeuroMusic Therapy (NMT) to help achieve individual goals in a group setting while fostering connection and support among participants.

What is Neurologic Music Therapy? Click Here to Learn More

Please fill the form below if you are interested in Musical Minds group and/or individual sessions.

NMT and Research…

Facilitates better movement by using rhythm and auditory stimuli as a way to facilitate functional movements as well as improve mood (Baker, Clark, & Taylor, 2012; Rice & Thaut, 2016).

Therapeutic singing has been found to be effective in meeting the needs of those with dementia in promoting successful communication with others (Emami, Engström, Götell, & Hammar, 2011; Gianelli & Raglio, 2009) Not only is therapeutic singing used to promote communication, but it has been found to increase social interaction as well (Hittinger, Horváthová, Mastnak, & Vörösová, 2017).

An experimental study by (Harrison, 2019) found that singing at different tempos, either aloud or mentally, can improve gait and offered insight into how internal cueing techniques can improve motor performance for older adults and people with PD.

Check out these powerful videos showcasing the effects of music with those living with Parkinson’s and/or Alzheimer’s.