Music therapy uses the healing effects of music to alleviate and heal a wide variety of ailments, both physical and psychological. It is a practice-oriented scientific discipline in any form of music therapy.
What is music therapy?
With the purposeful use of music, whether instrumental, vocal, or other forms of musical performance, the goal is to support, promote, maintain, and, at best, completely restore mental, physical, and spiritual health. With the targeted use of music, be it instrumental music, singing or other forms of musical performance, the mental, physical and spiritual health should be supported, promoted, maintained and, at best, completely restored. That music in all its facets can have a healing effect is today considered undisputed. As a form of therapy applied directly to humans and animals, music therapy is always practice-oriented, but closely based on scientific standards. There is naturally a close interaction between music therapy and other scientific disciplines, for example medicine, psychology or pedagogy. Music therapy is only a collective term, a generic term for the various music therapy concepts that have been developed over many centuries. By its very nature, music therapy can best be described as a form of psychotherapy because it directly affects a patient’s mood. Music therapy is used with children and adults alike with considerable success. It is not essential for the success of music therapy whether a patient is musically inclined or not. Music therapy as a separate field of study at German universities has only existed since the mid-1970s. In addition to the full courses of study at universities of applied sciences with the options of bachelor’s and master’s degrees as music therapists, part-time courses of study can also be taken. Many graduate music therapists, working clinically or in private practice, have specialized in fields within music therapy.
Function, effect and goals
Although music therapy as a separate branch of science is still quite young, the beginnings of this form of therapy date back quite some time. The findings from this empiricism have almost all found their way into the professional application of music therapy today. Unconsciously, music has always been included in treatment as a healing ritual by all peoples. Music evokes memories and has an immediate effect on moods and emotional states. By facilitating access to the subconscious, healing processes can be initiated on a deep psychological level. The effects go far beyond those of placebo, which could be proven beyond doubt in several randomized studies. After all, music was an integral part of medical treatments until the 19th century. After that, its importance was largely lost in Europe and only regained attention after the end of World War II, then under the name of music therapy. Today, the professional medical application of music therapy takes place as an integrative concept within the framework of a multimodal therapy. In psychiatry, neurology, geriatrics or pediatrics, music therapy is never used as the only therapy, but always embedded in a therapeutic concept of different treatment methods. However, music therapy is equal to the other forms of therapy and is not only understood as a supplement to them. Music therapy sessions can be offered to all age groups of people in individual or group therapies. Within a full or partial inpatient hospital stay, music therapy is offered as an independent form of therapy, especially in pediatrics. In outpatient care, music therapy is offered in the offices of practicing music therapists or social pedagogy centers. Music therapy has also found its way into the benefits catalog of the statutory health insurance. Patients with statutory health insurance can therefore take advantage of music therapy in several therapy sessions, even after a prescription has been issued by the attending physician. Particularly impressive treatment successes have been recorded with children, since they still have a carefree, unbiased and easy access to any form of music. Children care little if notes are wrong or if drumming is not in time. It is known that music triggers a natural urge to move in children.It is precisely this circumstance that music therapy takes advantage of in the case of developmental delays, aggression, autism or speech problems. In adults, for example, the treatment focus of music therapy is on better coping with chronic pain syndromes or physical or psychological trauma. In oncology, music therapy sessions are used to relieve stress after chemotherapy and radiation therapy. Music therapy has also become indispensable in the rehabilitation of stroke patients.
Risks, side effects, and dangers
By its very nature, music therapy carries little potential for risks or side effects. If an attempt at therapy fails, the music therapist will change the treatment approach and use other chants, tones, and styles of music. Personal preferences of the patient are also taken into account. Often, a combination of instrumental playing and singing is also required to achieve therapeutic success, which rarely occurs after the first session. Patients must therefore be patient until their complaints are alleviated. Already in the first session, a patient will notice whether the music therapy concept chosen for him is coherent overall or not. Due to the effect of the music on the subconscious, strong emotional fluctuations and emotional outbursts can occur during the therapy sessions, which must be observed very closely by the therapist. Sometimes it may even be necessary to discontinue the therapy, at least for the time being, and resume it at a later time. The so-called qualitative research methodology is relatively more difficult in music therapy in direct comparison to other sciences. This is due to the different reactions of each individual to music therapy. Nevertheless, so-called art-analogical approaches are used to try to standardize process flows in music therapy.
