| If listening to a classical concerto makes you feel all | | | | experienced strokes improve their speech and |
| warm and fuzzy inside, music therapy may unlock the | | | | communication, cognition, mood, motivation, |
| secrets to life's many mysteries for you. Similarly, if | | | | movement and muscle control. |
| hearing an Abba song or even a cheesy old Marie | | | | This can be accomplished by a variety of exercises |
| Osmond recording makes you swoon with joy and | | | | set out by a trained music therapist. They include |
| delight and can bring you out of a funk, then music | | | | rhyming, chanting and singing to exercise mouth |
| therapy may be just what you need. | | | | muscles, playing on the drum to exercise arm |
| Music therapy is thought to originate in veterans' | | | | muscles and control and creating songs to match the |
| hospitals, helping those who came back ravaged from | | | | patient's gait. |
| the war acclimate better to the often traumatic | | | | Particular emphasis is put on exercises that can |
| injuries they suffered. | | | | increase mood and motivation, which in turn affect a |
| Actually, music therapy is not as daft as it may | | | | lot of other activities. They include song-writing, lyric |
| seem. The idea is that music is used as a therapeutic | | | | writing, performing, improvisation and more. "The |
| vehicle to achieve goals that are not really related to | | | | emotional and aesthetic qualities of music are used to |
| music at all. The parallels are obvious: speech and | | | | improve mood, to increase motivation, and to assist |
| singing, walking and movement, rhythm and motor | | | | in pain management," says the Institute for Music and |
| skills. As music has been scientifically proven to | | | | Neurologic Function. |
| enhance mood as well, it's thought that music | | | | Music Therapy and Heart Disease |
| therapy can optimize people's abilities to interact and | | | | Music therapy can also help heart patients. An |
| communicate on many, many levels. | | | | American Heart Association Scientific journal reported |
| People who can benefit from music therapy are | | | | the results of an Italian study saying that music can |
| manifold. They can be both adults and children, either | | | | "synchronize and influence" the cardiovascular |
| those who suffer from certain disabilities, or those | | | | system, and that crescendos increased the heart |
| who have chronic health problems. Advocates of this | | | | rate and lowered blood pressure. |
| type of therapy say it works in a variety of ways, | | | | Previous studies showed that music could be used as |
| and can improve not only an individual's emotional well | | | | a therapeutic tool for people with neurological |
| being, but also help them physically, cognitively, | | | | impairments. The studies showed that music |
| socially and even on an aesthetic level. | | | | improved athletic performance, enhanced motor skills |
| Some people find it hard to communicate for a | | | | and reduced stress overall for people with impaired |
| variety of different and varied reasons that are | | | | brain function. |
| either developmental, social and/or physical, and feel | | | | There is also evidence that music therapy can help |
| that communication through or with the use of music | | | | limit nausea and vomiting experienced by cancer |
| is the best way to open up. Music is used purely as a | | | | patients on a course of chemotherapy, and that it |
| vehicle; it's thought that the communication between | | | | can help alleviate symptoms of depression and |
| the patient and the therapist is the most crucial | | | | insomnia. |
| aspect. | | | | Music Thanatology for the Sick and Dying |
| According to the American Music Therapy | | | | Another aspect of music therapy that is less widely |
| Association website, music therapy can: | | | | prescribed is known as music thanatology, dervied |
| * promote wellness | | | | from the Greek term "thanatos", which means death. |
| * manage stress | | | | It involves the use of music to help with the physical |
| * alleviate pain | | | | and spiritual care of people who are dying, and to |
| * express feelings | | | | help their loved ones deal with the grief when they |
| * enhance memory | | | | eventually do pass away. Incorporating the use of |
| * improve communication | | | | music in palliative care programs is becoming more |
| * promote physical rehabilitation | | | | and more common, as people begin to understand |
| History of Music Therapy | | | | the benefits it can bring. |
| The use of music to make us feel happy has been | | | | Music thanatology can take many forms. Sometimes |
| around for time immemorial, while the therapeutic | | | | a trained musician will come to a dying person's home |
| effects of music have been recorded more than | | | | and play harp music for them. Other times people will |
| 1,500 years ago. The idea of music as an established | | | | play a "music vigil" for the dying patient, easing their |
| therapy, however, has only been around since World | | | | passing and providing support and comfort to their |
| War II, at least in the United States. | | | | friends and relatives as well. |
| Music therapy is thought to originate in veterans' | | | | "The goal is to support the patient and family, not to |
| hospitals, helping those who came back ravaged from | | | | seek applause. Some musicians avoid using words like |
| the war acclimate better to the often traumatic | | | | 'perform' or 'performance' to describe what they do, |
| injuries they suffered. An undergraduate degree | | | | because these words may put focus on the person |
| program in the discipline was founded at Michigan | | | | creating the music rather than on the patient for |
| State University not long after, and the rest is | | | | whom the music is being played," says |
| history. Many universities now offer degree programs | | | | growthhouse.org, whose motto is "Improving care |
| in music therapy, and it is not as uncommon as you | | | | for the dying". |
| might think. | | | | A music-based approach has been scientifically |
| In case it all looks a tiny bit airy-fairy, rest assured | | | | proven to help people in many aspects of their lives. |
| that contemporary music therapists must go through | | | | Both children and adults can benefit from its |
| intense training before they become certified. This | | | | application. Look for a music therapist near you if you |
| includes not only gaining counseling and health skills, | | | | think you or someone you know could benefit from |
| but also reaching proficiency levels in guitar, voice, | | | | this well established health care profession. And the |
| music theory, piano, improvisation, and music history | | | | next time you hear a rendition of Paper Roses, |
| and reading music, as well as other disciplines. | | | | suppress the urge to run the other way and think |
| Music Therapy and Strokes | | | | how much it could do for you... |
| Music therapy to help people with strokes is seen as | | | | The information in the article is not intended to |
| being especially important as music has been shown | | | | substitute for the medical expertise and advice of |
| to have a strong impact on the brain, affecting | | | | your health care provider. We encourage you to |
| particularly social interactions and emotions. The | | | | discuss any decisions about treatment or care an |
| therapy has been proven to help people who have | | | | appropriate health care provider. |