It’s happened to everyone. Maybe you’ve had a bad day at work or a visit to a sick relative brings you down, but the right song at the right time replenishes your spirit and gives you the oomph you need to make it through the day.

The healing power of music is a well-known antidote to the blues, and while it might put a little boogie in your step or help you release the tears sitting at the back of your throat, mental health experts are coming to realize that the emotional benefits of song long outlast the last chord.

Putting those theories to good use are Golden Gate Senior Center and Avow Hospice, which run a monthly music therapy session with therapist Natalie Spencer for the center’s members. Using a variety of tunes from the past — many in Spanish — Ms. Spencer helps local seniors process the peaks and valleys of their lives by engaging them with the people who now surround them when many of their loved ones have passed or are far away.