NIAGARA network
The Healing Nature of Music
Many music enthusiasts would adopt the motto “ where words fail , music speaks ,” but this phrase carries greater meaning for the field of music therapy . While music ’ s ability to lift the spirits and evoke memories are among the reasons that people love music , many are unaware that music therapy , which puts into practice the value of music where words fail , is a credentialed profession with its own body of clinical research , approximately 5,000 board-certified music therapists in the U . S ., and a presence in our own city .
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 ” ( American Music Therapy Association , 2018 ). Music is used as a tool to reach nonmusical goals , where participants require no previous musical training and there is not a specific style of music that is used . Music therapists develop interventions that draw on the similarities and differences of how the brain processes music versus a non-music task . For instance , a large majority of strokes occur in the brain ’ s left hemisphere which typically processes language . The production and processing of music , however , utilizes the entire brain . Individuals who have had a stroke may not be able to speak , but may still retain the ability to sing . Music therapists use isolated components of live music to retrain the brain to understand and produce functional language for a multitude of neurologic deficits . For a high-profile example , recall the recovery story of Senator Gabrielle Giffords , who survived a gunshot wound
to the head in 2011 ; she attributes music therapy for her ability to regain language . This concept of pairing music with therapeutic goals can be applied to nearly any neurologic , behavioral , emotional , or developmental challenge : Alzheimer ’ s disease , ADHD , autism , behavioral disorders , cerebral palsy , Down ’ s Syndrome , drug and alcohol recovery , eating disorders , hospice , oncology , Parkinson ’ s Disease , and traumatic brain injury , and more .
While there are ancient testimonies of how music was used to “ soothe the savage beast ” the profession took root in the late 1940s when volunteers assisted hospital staff in organizing music programs for veterans returning from World War II to address both physical and emotional trauma . The field continued to expand throughout the latter half of the 20th century with the development of formal undergraduate and graduate training and
70 724.942.0940 TO ADVERTISE ❘ icmags . com