Radio Show Will Feature RU Professor on Healing with Music

For teenagers dealing with substance-abuse issues, talking about what they’re feeling can be a challenge, Jim Borling says.

A professor and music therapist at Radford University, Borling uses rock and metal music to help teenagers externalize their internal struggles. It may not sound like medicine, but "music therapy is a powerful healing practice," the professor says.

Borling will discuss his practices and the power of music on the radio program "With Good Reason," which will air for a week on public radio stations beginning Aug. 4. Listeners in the New River Valley can hear the professor at 6 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 7, on Public Radio WVRU 89.9.

"With Good Reason" is broadcast weekly on 13 public radio stations, reaching a diverse audience in Virginia; Washington, D.C.; and portions of Maryland, West Virginia, North Carolina, Georgia and Alaska. Programs also are available through podcasts at withgoodreasonradio.org and on iTunes.

In 2006, "With Good Reason" won the Virginia Association of Broadcasters award for Best Documentary/Public Affairs Program in the Public Radio division and took second place nationally in its division of the Public Radio News Directors competition.

"With Good Reason" is produced by the Virginia Foundation for the Humanities for the Virginia Higher Education Broadcasting Consortium.