Lesson 38º

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Music Therapy

Music therapy is used to help people with health and educative problems as it helps them improve their physical, psychological, intellectual or social functioning. A more detailed description can be found on musicterapia.com

Music therapy can be defined as “…a process of systematic intervention, in which the therapist helps the patient to improve their health through musical experiences” (Bruscia 1998).

Music therapy is used with children, adults and old aged pensioners with different physical, emotional, intellectual or social problems.

It is also used on people that aren’t ill or that aren’t looking to improve their personal well being, to develop their creativity, improve their learning, to improve their interpersonal relationships and to manage stress.

Music therapy is used on children to improve their self-esteem, attention and concentration, co-ordination, learning and social skills with others.

There are currently a great number of scientific investigations that support the use of music therapy with different types of people.

Music therapy helps children with:

Learning difficulties.

Behavioural problems.

Deep development disorders (autistic).

Mental problems.

Socializing difficulties.

Low self-esteem.

Chronic medical disorders (cancer, heart problems, pain, etc).

Adults with:

Degenerative illness due to old age (Alzheimer’s amongst others).

Substance abuse (adults that are addicted to pharmacies).

Brain damage due to illness.

Physical incapacities due to degenerative illnesses or accidents.

Chronic or serious pain problems due to different conditions (consequence of accident, cancer, etc).

Terminal illnesses.

People that don’t have health problems can use music to:

Reduce stress through playing or listening to music.

Support the labour process for women.

Increase creating and capacity to solve problems.

To decrease anxiety.

To improve self-esteem.

To manage stress.

Music therapy allows people:

To explore their feelings.

Make positive changes in a person’s emotional state.

To develop a sense of control in their lives through successful experiences.

Learn to put skills into practice to resolve problems and conflicts.

To improve social skills.