Trailblazing Women in Music Therapy

Happy Women’s History month! During these next few weeks, we want to take the opportunity to learn about some of the women who were instrumental (no pun intended) in the development of the music therapy field. 

Although music therapy as a degree path did not exist until the 1940s, music has been used therapeutically for centuries, and several of the first music therapy associations were created by women in the early 1900s! 

First, in 1903, the National Society of Musical Therapeutics was founded by Eva Augusta Vescelius. She was the first known person in the United States to establish a music therapy practice and to research and write about the effects of music and health, even working to disseminate the first music therapy journal.

In 1926, Isa Maud Ilsen founded the National Association for Music in Hospitals. Ilsen said of music: “It helps practically all. But it must be the right kind of music to have medicinal value,” thus emphasizing the importance of music therapy education and training. 

Finally, Harriet Ayer Seymour founded the National Foundation of Music Therapy in 1941. During WWII, Seymour and her students utilized music therapy to help hundreds of wounded soldiers with mental and physical rehabilitation. She was also the author of the first music therapy textbook to be published in the United States. 

We are grateful for these pioneers in the field and all the amazing women who have followed in their footsteps!