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Wednesday 9am - 7pm Thursday 9am - 7pm Friday 9am - 7pm

Center For Music Therapy of Spokane

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Spokane, WA
Center For Music Therapy of Spokane

Our Mission is to provide opportunities for increasing the JOY our clients experience and to transform their lives!

Visit our website to learn more: www.musictherapy4health.com

11/11/2025

Hope you're enjoying your fall 🍁

05/29/2025

Looking forward to warmer weather 🌞

03/25/2025

11/28/2024

We'd like to thank everyone for their support this year.

Without you, it wouldn't have been possible.

Have a Happy Thanksgiving!

11/19/2024

The Center for Music Therapy recently had a table
at the Family Support Conference!

10/31/2024

Hope you're having a spooky day! 🎶

10/23/2024

We still have some openings!

Here's how to get services:

If you or someone you know is interested in starting music and/or play therapy, we have a handful of openings for clients.

Interested parties can fill out an intake form on the website and text Kim at (509) 979-4357.

The Center for Music Therapy is particularly looking to work with kids with medical issues, mental health issues, and/or developmental disabilities/physical disabilities. We are also looking to serve families experiencing divorce and separation.

At this time, we are not accepting new couples or adult individual clients.

Thank you for helping us to spread the word!

10/16/2024

Enjoying every day of this beautiful season 🍁

10/10/2024

Please join us and spread the word! 🎶

Donate directly here:
https://www.givesendgo.com/GAHDN

10/09/2024

Did you know that Music Therapy can help improve the lives of those with Down's Syndrome? 🎶

10/02/2024

Did you know that Music Therapy can help improve the lives of those with Down's Syndrome? 🎶

Trisomy-21 or “Down’s Syndrome” is a congenital disorder causing intellectual impairment and physical abnormalities. It’s also the most common genetic cause of intellectual disability in North America with a rate of about 1 in every 800 to 1000 live-births. Many with Down’s have impaired cognitive development often affecting hearing, vision and/or motor abilities. Others struggle with speech development, communication and other developmental delays.

Individuals with Down’s often work with a team of doctors ranging from occupational therapists to speech therapists and physical therapists. They also work with a variety of physicians and social workers, and increasingly, more and more Music Therapists!

There are many benefits of Music Therapy for Down’s Syndrome including:

1. The ability of Music Therapists to use music to motivate individuals when doing challenging or repetitive tasks.

2. Using rhythmic patterns as cues assist in motor skill development.

3. Music Therapists use singing and rhythm to help individuals with the pacing and articulation of their speech so it’s easier to understand.

4. Music can be strategically used to help with memorization tasks.

Additionally, Music Therapists can help with things like:

1. Sensory awareness
2. Perception
3. Auditory attention
4. Discrimination

Music Therapists also help individuals develop social skills such as learning to take turns, and how to effectively process and express their thoughts and emotions.

The important thing to understand about Down’s is that every individual is affected differently, and there is no single, standard treatment, including in Music Therapy. It is my goal to be present with each individual and work with what they CAN do instead of focusing on what they can’t do. These sessions of singing, chanting, instrument play, and music and movement brings such joy to both myself and my clients.

If you know someone with Down’s Syndrome who would benefit from what I’ve described above, please give us a call. We would love to meet them!

09/24/2024

This method establishes the "missing link" between sensory stimulus and motor patterns in the body by working through subcortical neurological pathways. If the primary reflexes developed in very early life haven't been fully developed and integrated in the body or were damaged (due to trauma, illnesses, or other environmental conditions) this can impact the foundation of our functional bodies.

MNRI works so effectively because it addresses the root of the problem between sensory input, the neurological processing, and motor patterns, helping to overcome learning, developmental, or speech delays, or recovering from traumatic injury or an illness. Due to its effectiveness, Music Therapists use MNRI to assist individuals to create life skills.

Please contact Kim McMillin for more information.

Address

21101 E Wellesley Suite 2
Spokane, WA
99027

Opening Hours

Wednesday	9am - 7pm
Thursday	9am - 7pm
Friday	9am - 7pm

Telephone

+15099794357

Website

https://www.musictherapyspokane.com/

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Our Story

Music therapy for me is a journey of transformation: body mind and spirit

What if music was not only your way out of the darkness… but was the best way for you to learn to thrive? What if music was your primary language and your primary vehicle for learning how to move, listen, walk, speak, communicate, create social skills, feel, organize your mind and heart?

How do I know about the power of music as a transformational tool?

Music was my survival tool. I grew up in a small town in Arizona. My family was not able to give me private lessons. By the time I was in high school I had taught myself to play the piano, the oboe, the flute, the guitar and the alto sax. I was in all of the choirs, the orchestra and the marching band. In addition, I played oboe in the local community college orchestra and performed with them regularly.

A scholarship in music at a community college opened doors for me. I took singing lessons and had my first piano lesson. I began to write music and record my songs informally. I began to listen to all kinds of music and travel. my process of healing gave me the tools I needed to find my voice in a chaotic unpredictable world. Hence, I coined the phrase, “Music speaks where words fail.”

MUSIC THERAPY: TOOL FOR TRANSFORMATION AND INTEGRATION

While I was getting my nursing degree at the University of Arizona I would visit my mom who worked as a Special Education aide in my high school. One day, while hanging out in her classroom, I met a music therapist, Kelly, who was working with some of the kids there. She allowed me to ‘shadow’ her for the next 2 days while she worked in my community.

I knew about music therapy only by reading about it. I had always wanted to be a music therapist, but told myself that it was impractical and that I wouldn’t be able to make a living at it, so I gave up. Seems God had another plan.

While I was with Kelly, I saw the transforming magic of music in the eyes of the children, adults and parents she was working with. These kids were not supposed to be alive. If you looked at their medical history they were supposed to be dead. Many of them had had PT, ST & OT. Many of them had made progress in therapy, but had been discharged because progress had stopped or slowed.

When music was sung or played, ‘Crack’ babies, kids with severe Down’s syndrome, autism, cerebral palsy, etc, came alive, moved, began to speak and looked me in the eye. Someone was home, alive and ready to engage with life through music. I saw that music could help them integrate all they had learned in previous therapy experiences and ‘play’ and have fun doing it!

Here was this music therapist in the town where I grew up, doing the very thing I wanted to do! I no longer had any excuses left about why I couldn’t be a music therapist!

PASSION FOR HEALING: MUSIC AND MEDICINE

My experience as a nurse was a journey of transformation and discovery. I worked in physical rehab with adults and kids who had spinal cord injuries, strokes and head injuries. I worked at Denver children’s Hospital in physical rehabilitation. I became a pediatric home care RN. My job was to care for kids and adults with respirators, ventilators and severe medical issues.

I watched families and clients find their way through their pain and losses. Those who focused on ‘I can’ and used their spiritual resources seemed to thrive in the face of overwhelming odds. Kids particularly were good at finding JOY in the face of what others defined as ‘defeat’. Many kids spent the long hours in rehab listening to music and singing.

The kids at The Children’s Hospital taught me about body, mind and spirit. They taught me to be passionate about helping others to find the goodness within them and to heal the barriers that prevented them from embracing the Light of Goodness inside… through music, play, science and medicine…. one heart at a time.

MUSIC CHANGES YOUR BRAIN

After I graduated from nursing school, I worked in a locked Alzheimer unit in a nursing home. As a charge nurse I had the privilege of helping the residents get to bed at night. Often, as the sun set, the residents confusion would increase significantly. To help them, I would ‘sing’ them through each step of their bedtime routine. They couldn’t remember their name or mine, yet they were able to sing ‘Old Bill Bailey’ with all of the words. I would look at them, sing their name using melodies they remembered and put new words to it!

As I sang, music helped them organize their brain, decreased their anxiety and confusion around an activity that would normally be very stressful for them.

Music actually changes the chemistry of the brain! Music can be used to increase daily functioning. Music is a right brain activity (music making) that can be used to compensate for lack of left brain functioning (ability to sequence, speech et.al.). I learned that there is a ST?MT intervention called melodic intonation where the therapist will use a singing voice to teach stroke victims who have lost the ability to speak. instead of speaking what they need, they sing instead.

HEALING FROM THE INSIDE OUT—THROUGH MUSIC

I learned about music therapy by working with my own pain, by finding my way through closets filled with family skeletons… I wrote songs, vocalized, improvised on piano, guitar, drums, & flute.

When I finished my education, I worked with dually diagnosed adults… folks that had both developmental disability and a severe mental illness.

Additional Training:

Nordoff-Robbins Creative music therapy training, New York City 1999-present

Guided Imagery and Music training- Level I

Suzuki training- Piano and flute

Vocal improvisation as therapy- Diane Austin, PhD