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Music therapy

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

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 patients 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 individuals experiencing mental health issues, and more should be done to offer those in need this type of help.[13]

Uses

Children and adolescents

Music therapy may be suggested for adolescent populations to help manage disorders usually diagnosed in adolescence, such as mood/anxiety disorders and eating disorders, or inappropriate behaviors, including suicide attempts, withdrawal from family, social isolation from peers, aggression, running away, and substance abuse.[14][15] Goals in treating adolescents with music therapy, especially for those at high risk, often include increased recognition and awareness of emotions and moods, improved decision-making skills, opportunities for creative self expression, decreased anxiety, increased self-confidence, improved self-esteem, and better listening skills.[16]


There is some evidence that, when combined with other types of rehabilitation, music therapy may contribute to the success rate of sensorimotor, cognitive, and communicative rehabilitation.[17] For children and adolescents with major depressive or anxiety disorders, there is moderate to low quality evidence that music therapy added to the standard treatment may reduce internalizing symptoms and may be more effective than treatment as usual (without music therapy).[18][19]

Usage by region

African continent

In 1999, the first program for music therapy in Africa opened in Pretoria, South Africa. Research has shown that in Tanzania patients can receive palliative care for life-threatening illnesses directly after the diagnosis of these illnesses. This is different from many Western countries, because they reserve palliative care for patients who have an incurable illness. Music is also viewed differently between Africa and Western countries. In Western countries and a majority of other countries throughout the world, music is traditionally seen as entertainment whereas in many African cultures, music is used in recounting stories, celebrating life events, or sending messages.[81]

Military: active duty, veterans, family members

History

Music therapy finds its roots in the military. The United States Department of War issued Technical Bulletin 187 in 1945, which described the use of music in the recovery of military service members in Army hospitals.[131] The use of music therapy in military settings started to flourish and develop following World War II and research and endorsements from both the United States Army and the Surgeon General of the United States. Although these endorsements helped music therapy develop, there was still a recognized need to assess the true viability and value of music as a medically based therapy. Walter Reed Army Medical Center and the Office of the Surgeon General worked together to lead one of the earliest assessments of a music therapy program. The goal of the study was to understand whether "music presented according to a specific plan" influenced recovery among service members with mental and emotional disorders.[132] Eventually, case reports in reference to this study relayed not only the importance but also the impact of music therapy services in the recovery of military service personnel.


The first university sponsored music therapy course was taught by Margaret Anderton in 1919 at Columbia University.[133] Anderton's clinical specialty was working with wounded Canadian soldiers during World War II, using music-based services to aid in their recovery process.


Today, Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom have both presented an array of injuries; however, the two signature injuries are posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and traumatic brain injury (TBI). These two signature injuries are increasingly common among millennial military service members and in music therapy programs.


A person diagnosed with PTSD can associate a memory or experience with a song they have heard. This can result in either good or bad experiences. If it is a bad experience, the song's rhythm or lyrics can bring out the person's anxiety or fear response. If it is a good experience, the song can bring feelings of happiness or peace which could bring back positive emotions. Either way, music can be used as a tool to bring emotions forward and help the person cope with them.

Methods

Music therapists work with active duty military personnel, veterans, service members in transition, and their families. Music therapists strive to engage clients in music experiences that foster trust and complete participation over the course of their treatment process. Music therapists use an array of music-centered tools, techniques, and activities when working with military-associated clients, many of which are similar to the techniques used in other music therapy settings. These methods include, but are not limited to: group drumming, listening, singing, and songwriting. Songwriting is a particularly effective tool with military veterans struggling with PTSD and TBI as it creates a safe space to, "... work through traumatic experiences, and transform traumatic memories into healthier associations".[134]

American Psychiatric Association. (2000). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (4th ed., text rev.). Washington, D.C.: Author.

Gibson, David (2018). The Complete Guide to Sound Healing (2nd ed.), Sound of Light.

Goodman,K.D.(2011) Music therapy education and training: From theory to practice . Charles C . Thomas