Music as Therapy

Music as therapy is a bit different from just playing your favourite songs, although I’m sure this is beneficial without getting too technical about it all. When I’m painting I love listening to peaceful music because it can change the whole vibration in my working area to one of serene and meditative focus.

But there are trained therapists who actually use music as an intentional treatment focussed modality specifically formulated to aid in the recovery from a range of disorders. It isn’t anything new that music has been used like this. Many ancient cultures have used it recognising the impact it has on body, mind and spirit. People who listened to American Indian flute said:

‘I am compelled to relax and remember…’
‘….a sense of joy building in the heart’

In African culture, music is used to tell stories, celebrate life events and send messages, telling us that music is integral to life as relevant as a powerful communication tool. And as Plato said:

‘….music affects the emotions and could influence the character of the individual.’

This is not merely a fanciful idea that listening to a bit of nice music will actually change the way you feel, change even the chemistry in your brain or the stress hormones in your body. This is an idea which has been making life easier for humans for millennia.

Closely related to the effects of the nervous system, music can help with mental illness, stroke recovery, Post Traumatic Stress disorder, depression, and pain management. It is also used very successfully with children on the Autism spectrum and patients with aggression and agitation from Alzheimers dementia.

The ancient Chinese even believe that the various tones of a musical scale are related to specific internal organs and meridians.

Research by Nayak et al. showed that music therapy is associated with a decrease in depression, elevated mood, and a reduction in anxiety. In a world where the television and computer now dominates, it has really reminded me as I was writing this blog, that the house feels different in a good way when the sounds I hear are from music that I love instead of the TV.

It’s like when you walk into a Day Spa or massage therapist. It’s the music that immediately makes you take in a deep breath and sigh, letting out that insidious tension. Why do we not put this lovely stuff on at home more?

So if you are reaching for your medication every day, perhaps put it near the CD player as a thought association, that one goes with the other. Allow the gentle notes of an American Indian flute to caress your worried mind, relax your bunched up muscles and take your mind away from niggling pain.

If you are looking for a more participatory experience, there are registered Music Therapists available on this website:

www.austmta.org.au

I hope you enjoy the music you find or forgot you had.

Erica Fotineas