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My name is Zachary Brown, and I am a grade 12 student at Sir John A. MacDonald
secondary school as well as an aspiring music therapist. Recently I was able to experience two whole new sides of music therapy that I hadn't been exposed to before.

During one of my visits to a long term care facility that I've been volunteering at, I got to sit in on a one on one session between Laura, the facility's music therapist and one of their residents. I got to see Laura work alongside the physiotherapist that works there as well, while they worked with another resident. Both of these experiences introduced me to a new world of music therapy that is vastly different than the group therapy sessions I had been exposed to before.

There is something truly special about setting aside a time to devote all your energy to one person. I saw this firsthand, as I witnessed my first ever one on one music therapy session. When we met the resident for her session, she appeared at first to be totally...

My name is Zachary Brown, I am a grade 12 student at Sir John A. MacDonald secondary school, and an aspiring music therapist. Earlier this week I got my first impression of what music therapy in action looks like.

This week I had the incredible opportunity to volunteer at a longterm care facility in Hamilton, Ontario. The music therapist at the long term care facility, graciously allowed me to shadow her as she ran a group session with 10 of the residents. As Laura sang and played her guitar for the residents, they joined in with percussion instruments, their voices, and many smiles. As Laura engaged each resident with a song that they helped her choose specifically for them, the mood lightened. I saw music therapy bring joy to people who needed it. Maybe it was due to the excitement of having a song played just for them, or the accomplishment of being able to sing and play along.

My first of impression of music therapy in action filled me with excitement, although it does not seem...