Music Therapy

What is Music Therapy?

For the past two weeks, I skimmed the surface of what the power of music can have on all of us, both good and bad. This week, I have decided to delve a little bit further into one of those aspects, and where better to start than musical therapy. This idea of musical therapy first came to my mind when a friend of mine mentioned that she wanted to major in it. My first thought was, really? I mean, music is great but what good could it really be for therapy? Apparently, a lot.

According to www.musictherapy.org;

"Music Therapy is the clinical and evidence-based use of music interventions to accomplish individualized goals within a therapeutic relationship by a credentialed professional who has completed an approved music therapy program."

Now, that is just a big, fancy way of saying a doctor can help you with your problems by listening to music. Either by listening, singing, or playing music, a person can heal themselves in just the same way as drugs can. It has helped people in more ways than anyone could have imagined.

Who Does Music Therapy Help?

But what good is a new method of treatment, if you don't know who it's going to help. Music therapy is helping cancer patients, children with ADD, and hospitals are using it to help people who are having issues with extreme pain [2]. It is a way for dealign with high levels of stress, allowing you catharsis, but is also a way for you to feel excitement in your daily life. Matthew Lee, the acting Director at the Rusk Institute (a leading rehabiliation center in New York) said,

"Music therapy has been an invaluable tool with many of our rehabilitation patients. There is no question that the relationship of music and medicine will blossom because of the advent of previously unavailable techniques that can now show the effects of music [1]."

If one of the leading director's at a world-class rehabilitation center says that this is a concept that really works, it is certainly something that I am willing to put my money behind.

How Does It Work?

While I don't claim to be a bioligist or chemist, there is an easier way of explaining how this miraculous method works. Studies have shown that the brain reacts differently to certain styles of music. When exposed to fast tempo pieces, the brain becomes more attentive, and faster thinking. But when it is exposed to a slow tempo, it becomes more cathartic, calm and relaxed [2]. This is simply a good way for someone to calm down or get out of a depression. So with changes in the way our brain functions, also comes changes to how our body reacts to it;

"Those governed by the autonomic nervous system, such as breathing and heart rate can also be altered by the changes music can bring. This can mean slower breathing, slower heart rate, and an activation of the relaxation response, among other things. This is why music and music therapy can help counteract or prevent the damaging effects of chronic stress, greatly promoting not only relaxation, but health."

Simply put, the more relaxed you feel, the better that your body is going to feel. Everyone knows that stress is a bad thing, and music is one great way to deal with it.

Pretty Great, Huh?

This new method of therapy is one that has many different types of potential. But it has been recognized by congress as a legitimate form of therapy, and has been proven time and time again to be helping massive amounts of people [1]. Wouldn't it be great if somehow music was proven to help people so much, that government's support for the arts would rise? This is something that certainly gives me hope and more motivation to continue striving to find better ways to get good music to the masses. Cause who knows, it might save their life.

Sources:

1. www.musictherapy.org

2. http://stress.about.com/od/tensiontamers/a/music_therapy.htm