Music Therapy

Greek philosophers Plato and Pythagoras wrote extensively about music and its effects, and they are often quoted in support of music, music education, and music therapy. In the s, with the refinement of the scientific method , music was investigated for the physiological changes it could effect. Dissertations on the subject published by American medical researchers included one in by Edwin Augustus Atlee and a second in by Samuel Mathews.

Atlee and Mathews studied under American physician Benjamin Rush , a well-known advocate for the clinical use of music. Those experiences spurred the development of a professional music-therapy practice that included a college-level curriculum. In , after several attempts to start a professional organization in the United States, the National Association for Music Therapy was founded.

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A second organization with a somewhat different approach to practice, the American Association for Music Therapy originally the Urban Federation of Music Therapists , was begun in In the two organizations joined to form the American Music Therapy Association. Two international associations of music therapy also were founded: Those organizations presented conferences and provided oversight of educational programming, professional development needs, and research initiatives and advocacy. Training in music therapy was offered worldwide at both undergraduate and graduate levels.

The clinical phase typically entailed more than a thousand hours of training. A variety of tools and genres of music are used in music therapy. Examples of interventions include improvisation, original songwriting, lyric interpretation, and listening to and singing familiar music. For example, if a music therapist is working with a patient who has a movement disorder such as those caused by Parkinson disease or stroke , rhythmically driven music may be employed to facilitate gross or fine motor movement.

A music therapist may use sedative music to assist a person in achieving a deep state of relaxation in preparation for surgery , childbirth, chemotherapy , or a transition to hospice care. Those practices can also be employed to help individuals enhance their state of well-being by reducing overall reactivity to daily stressors. In the treatment of autism , music can be an effective approach for young children who have yet to begin talking. Children on the autism spectrum are often drawn to music, which is in stark contrast to their often minimal responses to spoken language or environmental sounds.

If music captures their attention, it can be used to facilitate their communication and social skill development. With patients who suffer from dementia , music therapists can bridge the loss of memory through music. Recalling positive memories through music therapy can provide comfort, motivation, and relaxation when the person is anxious, agitated, or in need of completing activities of daily living , such as bathing or dressing. Similar to other therapists, music therapists work within the context of a relationship.

Music therapists are trained in psychology , biology , and neurology , which helps them deliver optimal services to patients young or old. Any of several specialized approaches may be used in music therapy. Nordoff-Robbins music therapy also known as creative music therapy , for example, is an improvisational approach to therapy that also involves the composition of music. It was originally created by American composer and music therapist Paul Nordoff and British music therapist Clive Robbins as a therapeutic approach for children and adults with significant developmental disabilities e.

This approach is practiced worldwide with a variety of patients of different ages. Using the Nordoff-Robbins approach, a child with autism, for example, may vocalize spontaneously, and these vocalizations can become the basis of improvised music.

Once attention is established, the music therapist can alter and advance the music improvisation in ways that prompt the child to vocalize with specific responses or to play an instrument in a specific way. The music becomes the context of a nonverbal dialogue that mirrors the prelingual communication of infants with caregivers. Music therapists may choose to be trained in neurologic music therapy NMT.

Training in this approach focuses on understanding and applying scientific, evidence-based practices, usually for the purpose of neurorehabilitation the recovery of neurologic function. Examples of techniques employed in this approach include auditory perception training, patterned sensory enhancement, and therapeutic singing, which may be used to improve cognitive , sensorimotor, or speech functions, respectively.

Training in neurologic music therapy is offered at institutions worldwide and includes training of other allied health practitioners, such as physical, occupational, and speech therapists, as well as training of physicians and nurses. During a session, the therapist guides the patient into a deepened state of relaxation. Specially selected music is then played, and the patient describes his or her mental imagery, feelings, and memories, thereby enabling personal insight and contemplation.

Music therapy may also be used in the neonatal intensive care unit NICU. NICU music therapy is a highly specialized practice for premature infants. Studies have indicated that the structured use of music therapy in the NICU can positively affect premature infants, such as by improving feeding. This can result in reduced hospitalization stays and significant cost savings. We welcome suggested improvements to any of our articles. You can make it easier for us to review and, hopefully, publish your contribution by keeping a few points in mind. Music therapy is a research-based practice and profession in which music is used to actively support people as they strive to improve their health, functioning and wellbeing.

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Music therapy is the intentional use of music by a university-trained professional who is registered with the AMTA. Registered music therapists draw on an extensive body of research and are bound by a code of ethics that informs their practice.

They incorporate a range of music-making methods within a therapeutic relationship and are employed in a variety of sectors including health, community, aged care, disability, early childhood, and private practice. Music therapy is different from music education and entertainment as it focuses on health, functioning and wellbeing, and music therapists work with people of any age and ability, culture or background.

The use of music in healing has had a long history, but music therapy as a profession began to develop formally in USA in the s to help war veterans suffering from physical and emotional problems. The demand for a university curriculum grew as hospital musicians needed training. As anyone who sings or plays a musical instrument will tell you, making music, especially with others, is great for the mind, body and soul. The benefits flow whether you are an accomplished musician or an enthusiastic amateur.

Music therapists draw on the benefits of music to help people of all ages and abilities attain and maintain good health and wellbeing. They work in a range of places including hospitals, nursing homes, schools and the community, delivering tailor-made programs to meet specific needs. The techniques used by music therapists can include writing songs for or with clients, free or structured movement to music activities, singing and vocal activities, improvisation, playing traditional instruments or digital music equipment, listening to recorded music and engaging socially in a group setting.

The ability of music to change our mood seems to be related to the production of different chemicals in the brain.

Endorphin, dopamine and oxytocin triggers

Endorphins triggered by music listening and music-making provide a kind of natural pain relief, where dopamine leads to feelings of buoyancy, optimism, energy and power. Impacts are even more potent for group music-making, because shared, positive experiences also release oxytocin, a brain tool for building trust.

In this way, musical relationships develop encouraging non-verbal and emotional expression and building self-esteem, motivation and confidence. Music is processed widely across the brain in connection to memories, emotions and communication. Developments in brain-scanning technology show that making music increases brain activity, creating new pathways across both hemispheres of the brain.

This makes music therapy especially beneficial in neurorehabilitation where the organising function of rhythm in music can be used to rehabilitate movement and speech following a brain injury or stroke. There is a strong connection between music and memory as can be attested by the flood of emotion stimulated by hearing significant songs, or the annoying advertising jingles that get stuck in your brain.

Music therapists use this feature of music to help people with memory difficulties access important pieces of information in specifically composed songs. Memory for music is closely linked to emotions and both are processed deeply within the brain.

Memory for song lyrics often remains long after other memory and verbal ability have deteriorated for people with dementia. Music therapy often awakens something within people in late-stage dementia and can stimulate windows of lucidity, providing family members with glimpses of the person they love.

This provides an opportunity for choice and control in an environment where they have little control over everything else. This may include using music to increase opportunities for cognitive and sensory stimulation and to help develop motor skills, orientation and mobility.