Evidence-based treatment that helps you identify and change the thought patterns driving addiction and mental health challenges. Used by every therapist at Valley Spring across all program levels.
Music Therapy is a clinical, evidence-based therapeutic approach that uses music interventions -- including listening, songwriting, improvisation, and lyric analysis -- to address physical, emotional, cognitive, and social needs. Facilitated by trained professionals, music therapy provides a non-verbal pathway to process emotions, reduce stress, and build coping skills. Research shows it effectively reduces anxiety, depression, and cravings while improving emotional expression and group cohesion in addiction treatment.
At Valley Spring Recovery Center, Music Therapy is offered as a creative therapeutic modality that complements our clinical treatment approach. Our team integrates music-based interventions into group programming and individual sessions for clients who respond to creative expression. Whether through lyric analysis that reveals personal insights, group drumming that builds community, or guided listening that promotes relaxation, music therapy provides unique pathways to emotional processing and healing.
MT is especially effective for people with co-occurring disorders -- those struggling with both substance use and mental health conditions like depression, anxiety, or PTSD. By addressing the thinking patterns that fuel both conditions, MT creates lasting change from the inside out.
Music Therapy sessions are structured around specific therapeutic goals. Active music-making (playing instruments, singing, songwriting) promotes emotional expression and creative problem-solving. Receptive activities (guided listening, lyric analysis) facilitate reflection and insight. Group music experiences build social skills, communication, and community. Your therapist designs each session to target specific treatment objectives, using music as the medium through which therapeutic work occurs. No prior musical experience is needed.
The first phase of MT focuses on awareness. Your therapist helps you recognize the automatic thoughts, cognitive distortions, and core beliefs that drive unhealthy behaviors. These might include catastrophizing ("everything is ruined"), all-or-nothing thinking ("if I slip once, I've failed"), or overgeneralization. At Valley Spring, this foundation is introduced in Week 1 of our Mental Health Program curriculum through dedicated MT Introduction sessions.
Once you can identify distorted thinking, you learn to challenge it. Your therapist guides you through techniques like cognitive restructuring, thought records, and Socratic questioning to test whether your thoughts are based in reality or fueled by emotion and habit. By Week 3 of treatment, our curriculum progresses to Cognitive Flexibility -- helping you challenge distortions, examine core beliefs, and build more balanced perspectives that support recovery.
The final phase translates insight into action. You practice new behavioral strategies -- such as grounding techniques, behavioral activation, exposure exercises, and relapse prevention planning -- that replace old patterns with constructive responses. These skills become tools you carry beyond treatment, helping you navigate triggers, cravings, and stressors in everyday life with confidence and clarity.
At Valley Spring Recovery Center, Music Therapy is a valued component of our comprehensive treatment approach. Our clinical team integrates MT techniques into individualized treatment plans across all program levels, ensuring every client receives the benefits of this approach.
This means whether you are in Partial Care, Intensive Outpatient, Virtual IOP, or our Outpatient Program, you will receive MT-informed treatment from day one. Our dually-licensed clinicians combine MT with complementary modalities like DBT, motivational interviewing, and trauma-focused approaches to create a treatment experience tailored to your unique needs.
Under the clinical leadership of Henry Iwuala, Clinical Director, and Dr. Michael Olla, Medical Director, our team ensures that MT is delivered with both clinical rigor and genuine compassion -- creating a safe space for the difficult work of changing deeply held thought patterns.
Music Therapy has strong clinical evidence for treating a wide range of substance use and mental health disorders.
Generalized anxiety, social anxiety, and panic disorder
Major depressive disorder and persistent depressive disorder
Post-traumatic stress from trauma, abuse, or critical incidents
Alcohol, opioid, cocaine, and polysubstance addictions
Obsessive-compulsive disorder and related conditions
Mood stabilization and managing manic-depressive episodes
Attention-deficit patterns, impulsivity, and focus challenges
Emotional regulation and interpersonal relationship patterns
Disordered eating patterns and body image distortions
Simultaneous substance use and mental health conditions
MT is not limited to a single program -- it is a core therapy modality integrated into every stage of care at Valley Spring.
Intensive daily MT sessions address acute thought distortions. Structured curriculum introduces MT fundamentals, thought records, and cognitive awareness during the most critical stabilization phase.
MT deepens with cognitive flexibility work -- challenging distortions, examining core beliefs, and building restructuring skills. Group MT sessions reinforce individual progress with peer support.
MT continues via telehealth with real-world application. Clients practice MT techniques in their daily environment while maintaining therapeutic support and accountability.
MT skills become lifelong tools. Alumni access ongoing CBT-informed groups and check-ins that reinforce healthy thinking patterns and prevent relapse long after primary treatment ends.
Decades of clinical research consistently demonstrate MT as one of the most effective therapeutic approaches for addiction and mental health treatment.
At Valley Spring, our commitment to evidence-based care means we do not simply offer MT as an add-on -- we build treatment plans around it. Our CARF accreditation reflects our adherence to the highest standards of clinical practice, and our therapists receive ongoing training to stay current with the latest MT research and techniques. This dedication to clinical excellence is what makes MT at Valley Spring not just a therapy session, but a transformative experience.
Speak with our admissions team to learn how MT can be part of your personalized recovery plan.
Whether it is your first session or your fiftieth, here is what MT looks like at Valley Spring Recovery Center.
Your first MT session is designed to feel safe, structured, and collaborative. You will not be asked to dive into deep emotional territory right away. Instead, your therapist will:
Most clients describe their first session as "surprisingly comfortable." Our therapists are skilled at building rapport quickly and creating a judgment-free space for honest conversation.
As treatment progresses, MT sessions become more focused and skills-oriented. You will move from awareness into active change:
In group MT sessions, you will also benefit from hearing how peers apply these techniques -- often gaining insights that deepen your own understanding and accelerate progress.
Our admissions team is available to answer your questions and help you get started with treatment.