What is Music Therapy

There is no question that music has this sort of power over our minds. Shakespeare was quoted as saying, If music be the food of love, play on. But, it seems that it is also the food of our health.

Even as far back as the days of Aristotle, Music Therapy has been used. As the title suggests, Music Therapy is the use of music for therapeutic purposes.

In the modern world, music for therapy came to the fore when musicians played for war veterans to cure them of physical and emotional trauma. Since many of the patients responded well, nurses and doctors began requesting the services of musicians for therapy.

Soon enough, music therapy, backed by statistics and scientific testing, became well known for it’s healing abilities. In 1944, The State of Michigan created a program for music therapy.

A trained music therapist gauges the emotional well-being, physical health, social functioning and cognitive skills through the patients responses to music. Once the assessment is complete, the practitioner designs music session for individuals or groups.

Through the different effects of music improvisation, song writing, lyric discussion, imagery and musical performances, these sessions are put in place for the patients.

Using music for therapy can be a very powerful way to reach children and adolescents. Elderly people and people with developmental and learning disabilities, people suffering from Alzheimers disease and age related problems and people in acute pain also benefit from music therapy.

Professionals in the music therapy industry are found in places like drug and alcohol programs and nursing homes. Even schools will sometimes have a professional adapt to music therapy.

There is a myth in the industry that a patient can only benefit from music therapy with they have some kind of musical ability. But it has been proven that anybody can be aided by music therapy.

It is important for the professionals to know the background and history of a patient to fully assess what music will and will not help.

Research has shown that even the healthy can benefit from music therapy sessions. It can reduce the amount of stress and even improve one’s level of productivity.

In hospitals that employ music therapy, it is usually used in conjunction with anesthesia or pain medication. Music is known to dissolve barriers emotionally and also elevate a patients mood which helps the other medication do it’s job.

Depression can be fought using music therapy as the right kind of music relaxes and calms patients. It is even known to fully sedate some people.