The Importance of the Music Therapy Evaluation Form
The music therapy evaluation form is an integral component of the client-therapist relationship. It helps identify needs and areas where therapists can assist clients in reaching their objectives. Furthermore, it serves to document progress and enable other healthcare professionals to communicate effectively with the therapist.
Music therapists typically complete three basic forms of assessment for clients: comprehensive, treatment oriented and ongoing. Each form is important and serves a different purpose for the therapist; for instance, the comprehensive assessment may be used to refer someone directly to another therapist.
This type of assessment involves an in-depth interview and observation with the client. This will include questions regarding current behaviors, interests, and musical functioning. This provides the therapist with an opportunity to learn about the client’s background and experience working with others as well as their concerns and objectives.
The evaluation will also include information on the client’s current levels of functioning, whether they are functioning at their baseline level, and what should be done during treatment to improve. This allows the therapist to craft treatment goals and objectives for the client while monitoring their progress throughout treatment.
The evaluation will then be used to assess the success of each client’s music therapy sessions and whether they are helping them reach their objectives. It can be combined with clinical debriefing that takes place after each session, which allows the music therapist to share their insights with the clinical principal investigator.