LSU welcomed a new professional organization to campus this fall. The American Music Therapy Association of Students joins many collegiate chapters across the country, and its students are eager to make an impact in Baton Rouge.
Music therapy is a field of health science that uses music to help subjects address their physical, social and emotional needs. The official American Music Therapy Association website writes that music therapy is also used to help manage stress, promote wellness, enhance memory and improve communication.
“Through this organization we are not only trying to deepen our knowledge of music therapy, but be a part of a community that expands much farther than LSU and even the SEC,” said Ian Flores, historian for LSU AMTAS. “We will be recognized on a national level with a much broader outreach due to LSU being a flagship university.”
AMTAS members focus on service, professional development and advocacy within the community. Members can also utilize this organization to not only further their own education, but help educate the greater LSU community on the importance of music therapy. This organization is more than ready to start spreading the word and begin making an impact.
“Almost every time I tell someone that my major is music therapy, they tell me they’ve never heard of it or don’t know what it is,” said club President and music therapy student Izzy Hays. “I love explaining to people the power that music has on our health. I just want it to be so widely known that people’s first response when I tell them that I want to be a music therapist is ‘That’s so cool, good for you’ not ‘Ok, what is that?’”
Hays says that AMTAS helps educate people about a different method of healing that not many people think about. She hopes more people learn about it, so people can find resources for themselves or other people who may need it.
“We’re definitely growing as we go,” Hays said. “I just think that it’s such an honor to be able to be a part of this first class and be a pioneer in the LSU Music Therapy world.”
LSU’s chapter of AMTAS came to campus less than a semester after music therapy was declared an official major. At the ribbon cutting ceremony in April, students and staff celebrated the addition of this field to the list of offered degrees. This step came after years of development for the new program. Kamile Geist, the department chair and professor of music therapy at LSU, was a key advocate for its start.
“What a wonderful time for music therapy at LSU,” Geist said. “I look forward to them working together to advocate for music therapy across our campus and to serve the community by showing the impact of music on health.”
To stay up to date with AMTAS and their events, follow @lsuamtas on Instagram.