Music therapy

Music therapy
Power of Music by Louis Gallait. A brother and sister resting before an old tomb. The brother is attempting to comfort his sibling by playing the violin, and she has fallen into a deep sleep, "oblivious of all grief, mental and physical".
ICD-9-CM93.84
MeSHD009147

Music therapy, an allied health profession, "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."[1] It is also a vocation, involving a deep commitment to music and the desire to use it as a medium to help others. Although music therapy has only been established as a profession relatively recently, the connection between music and therapy is not new.[2]

Music therapy is a broad field. Music therapists use music-based experiences to address client needs in one or more domains of human functioning: cognitive, academic, emotional/psychological; behavioral; communication; social; physiological (sensory, motor, pain, neurological and other physical systems), spiritual, aesthetics.[3][4][5] Music experiences are strategically designed to use the elements of music for therapeutic effects, including melody, harmony, key, mode, meter, rhythm, pitch/range, duration, timbre, form, texture, and instrumentation.[6][7][8]

Some common music therapy practices include developmental work (communication, motor skills, etc.) with individuals with special needs, songwriting and listening in reminiscence, orientation work with the elderly, processing and relaxation work, and rhythmic entrainment for physical rehabilitation in stroke survivors. Music therapy is used in medical hospitals, cancer centers, schools, alcohol and drug recovery programs, psychiatric hospitals, nursing homes, and correctional facilities.[1]

Music therapy is distinctive from Musopathy, which relies on a more generic and non-cultural approach based on neural, physical, and other responses to the fundamental aspects of sound.[9]

Music therapy might also be described as Sound Healing. Extensive studies have been made with this description [10][11]

Music therapy aims to provide physical and mental benefit. Music therapists use their techniques to help their patients in many areas, ranging from stress relief before and after surgeries to neuropathologies such as Alzheimer's disease. Studies on people diagnosed with mental health disorders such as anxiety, depression, and schizophrenia have associated some improvements in mental health after music therapy.[12] The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) have claimed that music therapy is an effective method in helping people experiencing mental health issues, and more should be done to offer those in need this type of help.[13]

  1. ^ a b American Music Therapy Association. "About Music Therapy & AMTA". About Music Therapy & AMTA. Retrieved January 2, 2021.
  2. ^ Darnley-Smith, Rachel; M Patey, Helen (February 18, 2003). Music Therapy (Creative Therapies in Practice series). London: Sage Publications Ltd. ISBN 978-0761957775.
  3. ^ Gaston, E. Thayer (1968). "Man and music". In Gaston, E. Thayer (ed.). Music in Therapy. New York: The Macmillan Company. pp. 7–29.
  4. ^ Chase, Kristen M. (2002). The Music Therapy Assessment Handbook. Columbus, MO: Southern Pen Publishers.
  5. ^ Gfeller, Kate E. (2008). "Music: A human phenomenon and therapeutic tool". In Davis, William B.; Gfeller, Kate E.; Thaut, Michael H. (eds.). An Introduction to Music Therapy: Theory and Practice (3 ed.). Silver Spring, MD: The American Music Therapy Association. pp. 41–75. ISBN 978-1884914201.
  6. ^ Bruscia, Kenneth E. (1987). "IAP scales and criteria". In Bruscia, Kenneth E. (ed.). Improvisational models of music therapy. Springfield, IL: Charles C Thomas. pp. 465–496.
  7. ^ Schneck, Daniel J.; Berger, Dorita S. (2006). The Music Effect: Music Physiology and Clinical Applications. Philadelphia, PA: Jessica Kingsley Publishers. ISBN 978-1843107712.
  8. ^ Sarrazin, Natalie (2016). "Music: Fundamentals and Educational Roots in the U.S.". Music and the Child. Milne Library: Open SUNY Textbooks. ISBN 9781942341208.
  9. ^ "Musopathy: Mapping music and its medicinal benefits". DT Next. December 31, 2019.
  10. ^ "About Sound Healing | Sound Healing Center".
  11. ^ Gibson, David (2018). The Complete Guide to Sound Healing (2nd ed.), Sound of Light.
  12. ^ McCaffrey T, Edwards J, Fannon D (2011). "Is there a role for music therapy in the recovery approach in mental health?" (PDF). The Arts in Psychotherapy. 38 (3): 185–89. doi:10.1016/j.aip.2011.04.006. hdl:10344/3362.
  13. ^ McCaffrey, Tríona; Edwards, Jane; Fannon, Dominic (2011). "Is there a role for music therapy in the recovery approach in mental health?". The Arts in Psychotherapy. 38 (3): 185–189. doi:10.1016/j.aip.2011.04.006. hdl:10344/3362.