Music has always been used as a way to get relaxed and enjoy this specific type of art. Varying from many selections of different types of music, many artists today use music to express what they are feeling about their views in the world they live in, or even to just express their emotion (Juslin & Sloboda, 2001). There are many mysteries in the world of music, ranging from easy questions “What is the meaning behind these lyrics?” To more complex questions, “What chemicals will the brain release to this melody?” With modern technology, research has been done to answer these questions to the point where music is now being used as a form of therapy. But can this enjoyable activity treat mental illnesses? To begin the research, there has to be an understanding about what music and therapy are. Music; according to the Oxford Dictionary, is ‘vocal and/or instrumental sounds that combined in such a way as to produce beauty of form, harmony, and expression of emotion.’ There are many hypothesis out there that try to answer the question, “What is music?” One hypothesis states that music has one primary effect, and that is to induce an altered state of mind. In other words music is often used to disconnect us beings from …show more content…
First off, autism is a disorder associated with many developmental problems, especially when they communicate or when they’re trying to be social. Music is being used to help people with autism, because autistic people more than often how a strong interest to music (Whipple, 2004). This helps to teach them to have more social skills like verbal and nonverbal communication skills, and to have a more normal developmental processes. Study done by Kim, Wigram, & Gold (2009) showed that there were more positive responses for music therapy, than there wa for toy play sessions for children. This came to the conclusion that music therapy promotes a more social, motivational, and emotional development in children that had
8. What exactly is music therapy and how is it used? How could music be used as effective therapy with people experiencing severe mental illness? How might it be used to improve their lives? Provide specific ideas and
Following the developing of social sciences, everybody has started to get concerned about the issue if music is good for healthy body and mental recently. This phenomenon makes the music therapy becomes popular. Music therapy is defined as “ the therapeutic use of music as to reduce anxiety, improve cognitive functioning, promote physical rehabilitation, or enhance interpersonal communication that typically involves listening to music, singing, playing musical instruments, or composing music “ in the Merriam-Webster.com. In other words, through the activity of music people can improve physical or psychological disease that achieves cure and health.
I knew about music therapy before my paper because I was actually going to major in it for college. It is interesting because I honestly knew so little on how and what music therapists really do in their sessions. One thing I learned and found extremely interesting was how music therapy can help children with autism identify emotions. Music therapy can help individuals identify the correct emotions and expressions of themselves and others around them. An example is if the music therapist plays a sad song, the child will internally feel a little sad inside, they can sing words or say expressions that relate to sadness, and then they can look in the mirror and see their own sad face while also looking at the music therapists sad face (Music Therapy Center of California, 2005, p. 4). I thought it was so interesting to know that music can help children understand emotions. Music therapy can help to lessen negative self-stimulation and it can increase participation and social skills among peers in more acceptable ways (American Music Therapy Association, 2012, p.1). Another big thing I learned from my research is how much music therapy can help a child with autism’s language skills. Music therapy can help children who do not have verbal language express themselves and communicate. The music can also let them participate freely. The connection between the actual music and the interaction of play, such as listening, taking turns and responding helps them with their communication skills (American Music Therapy Association, 2012, p.1). Some personal experiences that I can account for is when I volunteered for a musical theater production called Razzle Dazzle. This was a music production with adults with disabilities. Their disabilities ranged from Down syndrome, to autism, to simply just an intellectual disability. One man by the name of UNKNOWN, was a dancer in our show.
In a setting with someone with autism spectrum disorder, music therapists make use of music as an educational tool to encourage learning. One of the purposes of music therapy for someone with autism is to provide the student with an initial assistance using melodious and rhythmic strategies, followed by fading of musical cues to assist in simplification and transfer to other learning environments. Music therapy has been proven to decrease symptoms of children with autism, and could even facilitate motivation and social interaction. Even autistic children, who rarely or never speak, can respond to music; sometimes they may even sing along. Music therapy provides a tool that can link the gap between a non-communicative child and one who can
“The American Music Therapy Association (AMTA) defines music therapy as ‘an established health profession in which music is used within a therapeutic relationship to address physical, emotional, cognitive, and social needs of individuals’” (Barnett & Shale, 2013, p.48). Music Therapy (MT) is shown to be able to help people with many different kinds of mental health problems such as anxiety, stress, and minor cases of depression. There have been many studies done showing that MT is an effective form of therapy that can improve someone’s overall Quality Of Life (QOL). MT is known as an alternative technique therapy. It is often used instead of, or along with, medication to produce a result in the patience who need it. MT involves all aspects of the music process, including listening to, writing, singing, and analyzing music. Overall MT addresses physical and emotional problems and is used to enhance the life and health of the patient. This review is simply to inform readers of the effects music and MT has on mental health, specifically:
There are many different ways that we benefit from music. Music can inspire better self-esteem, and confidence. It’s a great way to set the mood, and a wonderful tool. Music therapy 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 (Gram, 2005). Music therapy can reach out to anyone, age, race, gender it doesn’t matter. Children, adolescents, adults, and the elderly with mental health needs can benefit from music therapy. As well as, those who have developmental and learning disabilities, those who suffer from Alzheimer's
Music therapy is the clinical and evidence-based use of music interventions to accomplish individualized goals within a therapeutic relationship by an accredited professional who as completed an approved music therapy program. “Music therapists hope that scientific research continues to define how their work differs from entertainment, and how it benefits patients as much as other more familiar complementary therapies such as art therapy.” (Mellskog) This shows how even though there is little research and evidence on music therapy, it is still very effective and a
I have this theory that when it comes to music there is an unseen power which transforms. In in my life I have felt the influence of this power but it wasn't until the other day that I witnessed this power in action. It was through a procedure called Music Therapy where the method of treatment involves the patient listening to music. The element of music has a history of an intuitive connection that has psychologically been beneficial. Music therapy bands together the concept of music, mental health, psychological, and physiological benefits. With more examinations to estimate the advantages for this procedure more debate arises. Many are eager to
There are multiple ways to heal and multiple benefits that come out of healing. One of those healing methods is Music Therapy. Music Therapy has been shown to help many people of all age groups, a specific group being children with autism. It helps benefit children with autism by improving their communication and social skills. Just simply listening to music calms and puts the brain at ease. Music Therapy is beneficial to this specific group because though they may have deficits socially, they show none when it comes to musical affect. This form of therapy allows autistic children to improve those social skills in a fun and engaging way.
Have you ever been in a certain situation, and you just did not know what to do? And it felt as if music solved your problem or helped you out? Well, you probably had your own music therapy session. This topic is relevant because people use music on a daily basis to help with frustration, depression, etc. and it just might be an alternative for illnesses and the addiction recovery process. I am a credible resource because I have done extensive research on this topic. I believe music therapy helps with drug addiction, illness, and depression and can replace medicine that people take for illnesses and also be better than the process people go through with addiction recovery. I am now going to give you the background on music therapy and hopefully persuade some of you that music therapy actually does help and can replace medicine for the greater good.
In the words of Dr. Oliver Sacks, “Music imprints itself on the brain deeper than any other human experience. Music evokes emotion and emotion can bring with it memory. Music brings back the feelings of life when nothing else can.” As we discussed in class with Dr. Belgrave, music is powerful in many ways. It is universal, flexible, able to facilitate structure and enable integration and connection to society. Music is relatable to everyone and occurs throughout an entire lifespan. With that being said, music therapy focuses on not only helping individuals regain connection to the world, but it also works to bring back functioning skills, mood regulation, brain stimulation, and individual happiness.
Music therapy had also shown significant benefits to those who suffers depression, trauma, and schizophrenia. The author of an article title, " The Impact of Music Therapy on Mental Health by Dr. Molly Warren announces that music therapy does not only sooths patients, it also "acts as a medium for processing emotions, trauma, and grief."
According to the American Music Therapy Association (A.M.T.A.), music therapy 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.” As a generally new and upcoming industry, music therapy is often underestimated. By incorporating different areas of the brain, music can reduce stress, ease
Thesis statement: The purpose of this paper is to investigate the subject of music therapy in terms of the way it works, importance, as well as reflect on the the impact and benefits of music therapy for children and their families.
Music therapy is a treatment that can be used for a wide range of medical conditions. In a review of current research, music studies were compared. The effects of music on heart disease patients showed improvements in heart rate, respiratory rate, and reduced anxiety, after listening to relaxing music for only twenty minutes. In a study on cancer patients, music therapy showed improvement in wellbeing, reduced tension, and reduced serum cortisol levels during the listening experience. In cancer patients, music therapy has been shown to decrease anxiety and stress as well. Music