​​"When You don’t
move the mountains
I’m needing You to move
When You don’t part the waters
I wish I could walk through
When You don’t give the answers
As I cry out to You
I will trust, I will trust
I will trust in You."
​-Lauren Daigle

​​Music

​We purposefully play music in the waiting rooms to prepare you for your session with your therapist. To read an article about the importance of this, click on the link below. 

The Right Music for Your Therapy Office Waiting Room

​The resource page for clients to access music and videos to use in the counseling process has been updated. All the songs are listed based on issues. We encourage you to visit that page by clicking here. ​
​The Benefits of Listening to Music:
  • Listening to music causes the brain to release dopamine, a feel good chemical
  • Music can distract you, focusing attention away from negative stimuli to something pleasant and encouraging
  • Music has the ability to alter breathing and heart rate
  • Music has the ability to improve your state of mind.This like keeps depression and anxiety at bay
  • Music can reduce the perception of pain
  • Music alters the perception of pain, depression and disability
  • Music occupies the mind with something familiar and soothing
  • Music with a strong beat can stimulate brainwaves. Slow beats encourage the slow brain waves that associated with hypnotic or meditative states. Faster beats may encourage more alert and concentrated thinking

​Click here to download the a photo to the left that explains more about music therapy. ​


​
"What if your blessings come through raindrops? What if your healing comes through tears?" 
​-Laura Story
​
Why use music and video in the healing process? 

Music and video are often able to access the right brain where trauma and memories are stored for many individuals. Most people who have experienced some form of trauma have built up walls and developed strong defense mechanisms to survive. Unfortunately, people remain stuck in this way of surviving. Music and video are wonderful pathways into the healing process, where words and logic don't often reach in a normal counseling process that involves talk only. To view an excellent video that explains the power of music in healing at both a physical and psychological level, click here. Oliver Sacks, author of Awakenings shares in this video what he has learned about the power of music and it's effect on the brain. To view it, click here  

"Memories stored in various brain structures are retrievable through the process of listening to music.These memories produce changes in brain chemistry." 
-Donna Rockwell, PSY.D.

"The power of music to integrate and cure. . . is quite fundamental. It is the profoundest nonchemical medication." 
-Oliver Sacks, Awakenings

"To sing is to feel and to feel is to heal." 
-Kelita Haverland, Singer and Songwriter 

"I've found that music can be powerful and often times cuts through to the heart of the matter.
We see this as a way to approach a difficult topic in a sincere and heartfelt way." 
-Matthew West, Singer and Songwriter
​
"My heart has often been solaced and refreshed by music when sick and weary." 
​-Martin Luther

"Music gives a soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination and life to everything." 
-Plato

"Through my work as a songwriter, I have seen the power of music to be able to speak to somebody when
talking just didn't seem to work." 
-Steve Siler, Music for the Soul 

"Sadly, talking about terrible things in therapy alone doesn't quite make it go away." 
-Dr. Bessel van der Kolk​

The Alisa Turner Story: The Power of Music 

​References

Mental Health Program Hits the Right Notes
Music a Powerful Tool in Your Counseling Sessions
​Psychotherapy and Music Therapy
On The Road Again: Music Therapy’s Role in Gabby Gifford’s Recovery
The Music, Acoustics, Perception and Learning Lab 
Music and Health Research Collaboratory
Music, Science & Medicine at the New York Academy of Sciences
Science of Music, Auditory Research and Technology
This is Your Brain on Music by Dr. Daniel Levitin 
International Laboratory for Brain, Music and Sound Research​​​​

"I have found that music can be powerful
and often times cuts through the heart of the matter.
We see this as a way to approach a difficult topic
​ in a sincere and heartfelt way.”

- Michael W. Smith