Music therapy is an artistic form of therapy that uses music to improve and keep your psychological, physical, and social well-being. There are many ways to incorporate music into therapy such as singing, listening to music, or playing a musical instrument. This mode of therapy is used in rehabs, hospitals, nursing homes, correctional facilities, schools, and hospices. Music therapy helps give patients a voice that they had been unable to express.
Music therapy started before and after World War I and II in which musical groups would play for hospitalized veterans. Michigan State University was the first university to include music therapy in the curriculum in 1944. In 1950, the National Association for Music Therapy was formed. Music therapy became successful in affecting the parts of the brain that control cognition, emotion, sensation, and movement for those with depression, hypertension, and anxiety. It can also help those with physical or intellectual difficulties, Alzheimer’s, and brain injuries. It can reduce the stress of women in labour and can help you become socialized and confident.
The active techniques involved in music therapy include chanting, singing, musical instrumentals, improving music, and composing. The receptive techniques are listening and responding to the music through dance or analyzing the lyrics. It is the time for patients to discuss their values, feelings and goals. The music is chosen by their music therapist or the patient based on the patient’s current condition. The patient can either write original songs or fix existing ones like changing some of the words or lines, adding new verses, or changing the song completely to match the existing tune. As a starting point, the therapist can give the patient a topic or an emotion to go off of. Music therapy can provide a voice for those who have none such as when those have trouble communicating after a stroke, singing the words or short phrases can amplify speech and articulation.
Music therapy can also be a good supplement for those struggling with addiction. Recovering addicts tend to feel lonely since they broke away from those do abusive substances so making music can be a collaborative effort and bring people together. It can also help bring out destructive emotions they may be feeling during those first few months and music can be a good stress booster. Music can help unleashing a person’s creativity and bringing out feelings they did not know they had.
Smarmore Castle Private Clinic in County Louth, near Dublin was founded in 1988 as a residential rehabilitation hospital treating people suffering from drug and alcohol purposes. Smarmore Castle believes in helping patients lead a life of abstinence through 12 Step programs, detox and medical treatment, psychotherapy, and complementary therapies. For more information, please call 041-214-5111. For those who live out of the country, the international number is 00353-41-214-5111.
