Music Therapy for Health

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.

Music therapy is also a branch of health care designed to aid physical and emotional health through the use of music, either with listening, song writing, performing, exploring lyrics or other activities related to music. It is often found as part of stress management programs or used in conjunction with exercise, and is uses in a variety of health care settings, with very good results in both short-term conditions and more serious long-term ones.

Traumatic brain injury is a sudden and often debilitating event with far reaching consequences for the individual and their loved ones. Its effects on physical, cognitive, social and emotional areas of function may be comprehensive and the subsequent rehabilitation required can place a substantial burden on society. Early anecdotal reports on the use of music therapy in neurorehabilitation began in the 1980’s. More rigorous research on the effects of music therapy for specific outcomes in neurorehabilitation has recently started to emerge.

 

The idea of music as a healing influence which could affect health and behaviour is as least as old as the writings of Aristotle and Plato. The 20th century discipline began after World War I and World War II when community musicians of all types, both amateur and professional, went to Veterans hospitals around the country to play for the thousands of veterans suffering both physical and emotional trauma from the wars. The patients' notable physical and emotional responses to music led the doctors and nurses to request the hiring of musicians by the hospitals. It was soon evident that the hospital musicians needed some prior training before entering the facility and so the demand grew for a college curriculum. The first music therapy degree program in the world, founded at Michigan State University in 1944, celebrated its 50th anniversary in 1994. The American Music Therapy Association was founded in 1998 as a union of the National Association for Music Therapy and the American Association for Music therapy.