Table of ContentsView AllTable of ContentsWhat It IsBenefitsConditions HelpedHow It WorksTypesMusic TherapistsRelated Approaches
Table of ContentsView All
View All
Table of Contents
What It Is
Benefits
Conditions Helped
How It Works
Types
Music Therapists
Related Approaches
Music therapy is a type of therapy that supports mental health through the playing of musical instruments, listening to music, writing music, singing, dancing, or talking about music. It has also been shown to improve physical well-being.
Thistherapeutic approachhelps with a variety of conditions in adults, children, and even infants. Music therapy is generally not used on its own to treat illnesses but is included as part of a broader treatment plan.
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What Is Music Therapy?
Music therapy usesactivemusical activities (singing, playing instruments, etc.) as well aspassiveactivities (listening, watching) to help people manage physical pain as well as psychological conditions.
The idea of music being healing has been around for centuries, but during the late 1700s, it was first explored as a therapeutic tool. In the 1940s, music therapy started developing as a clinical field, and the first music therapy college programs were established.
Benefits of Music Therapy
Research has shown the wide potential of music therapy to support physical well-being as well as positive mental health.
Benefits associated with music therapy, include:
The techniques are incorporated into treatment plans to help people who struggle emotionally as well as physically with a health disorder.
For instance, a meta-analysis of how passive and active therapies affect COPD patients showed improvements in both emotional and physical health, including:
The overall conclusion from analyzing multiple studies has been that music therapy improves the quality of life.
Conditions Music Therapy Helps With
Research-based findings show that active and passive musical therapy may help people with a range of physical and mental health needs, including those with the following conditions:
According to some studies, music therapy may also significantly reduce students’ test anxiety.However, more research is needed to prove this connection.
Music Therapy as a Pain RelieverIn studies, active music therapy, especially, was shown to have benefits on physical pain and the emotional stress related to pain.Incorporating music therapy into treatment for people with pain may allow some patients to decrease their need for opioid and non-opioid pain medications.
Music Therapy as a Pain Reliever
In studies, active music therapy, especially, was shown to have benefits on physical pain and the emotional stress related to pain.Incorporating music therapy into treatment for people with pain may allow some patients to decrease their need for opioid and non-opioid pain medications.
In studies, active music therapy, especially, was shown to have benefits on physical pain and the emotional stress related to pain.
Incorporating music therapy into treatment for people with pain may allow some patients to decrease their need for opioid and non-opioid pain medications.
Music therapy uses music in various ways to help a person manage or overcome physical, psychological, cognitive, and social conditions.
There are four common methods of music therapy:
Music as CommunicationIn music therapy, music can help facilitate communication or be a form of communication. By creating music, one can express themselves nonverbally. Also, sharing a musical experience with a therapist or others in a group setting builds communication skills such as interpersonal timing and listening and responding to another person.
Music as Communication
In music therapy, music can help facilitate communication or be a form of communication. By creating music, one can express themselves nonverbally. Also, sharing a musical experience with a therapist or others in a group setting builds communication skills such as interpersonal timing and listening and responding to another person.
What Are the Five Elements of Music Therapy?
Some forms of music therapy incorporate the five-element theory based on traditional Eastern medicine.According to this theory, the five natural elements (wood, fire, earth, metal, and water) correspond to certain emotions. For instance, anger corresponds to wood.
Each of these elements is also associated with five musical tones and relates to the function of a specific organ: liver, heart, spleen, lungs, or kidneys.
Listening to certain sounds is believed to evoke or inhibit certain emotions and affect a certain organ.
There are different kinds of music therapies. Different approaches include:
What Is A Music Therapist?
They can work in hospitals, outpatient clinics, nursing homes, senior centers, correctional facilities, schools, rehabilitation facilities, and private practice, among other places.
While music therapy is a clinical and scientific-based approach to therapy, there are other ways that music and sound may be used to support a person’s mental or physical well-being.
Another approach issound therapy, which uses sound, music, and certain instruments played in a way to influence brainwave frequencies.It may be part of an alternative treatment plan outside a standard medical practice.
Summary
Music therapy can help with many conditions. It may be combined with other treatments to support memory, communication skills, stress management, and physical health
21 Sources
Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.
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