by Steve Rees, Ret. RN, Harpist
Music Therapy Benefits
Almost every morning, one of my Facebook friends sends me a greeting . A couple of days ago she sent me one with this quote:
“Health does not always come from medicine. Most of the time it comes from peace of mind, peace in the heart, peace of soul. It comes from laughter and love.”
As I read it and meditated on these thoughts, I realized how true her words were. I can say from my many years of experience as a registered nurse that many times we were unable to heal our patient with the prescribed medicine. We gave it the “good old college try” and followed the doctors orders, but in the end, the desired “healing” did not occur. Perhaps, the real issue was not a medical issue, but a “heart” issue.
For instance, a doctor can order a pharmaceutical agent (pill) to help someone sleep. After months of taking that medication and adjusting the dosage to try and get results, the desired sleep continues to evade. One person wrote and told me they had the same problem until they found my music online. They were so grateful because as they stated, “I have finally been able to sleep through the night uninterrupted!” The peace that the harp music brought was more effective than the medication.
On my website: www.calmingharp.com I post various articles that describe different ways that music helps to enhance our health. One such article comes from Cathy Wong in an e-zine:
https://www.verywellmind.com/benefits-of-music-therapy-89829 , quoting some of what she revealed in that article. She is writing specifically about Music Therapy as a mode of treatment for various ailments.
She begins her article by stating, “Music therapy is a treatment method that involves using music to enhance health. There are many different approaches to music therapy, including creating music, listening to music, and talking about music. Although music therapy is often used to promote mental and emotional health, it may also help improve quality of life for people coping with physical health conditions.”
She goes on to list various uses for Music Therapy:
Alzheimer’s disease
anxiety
attention deficit hyperactivity disorder
autism
depression
insomnia
Parkinson’s disease
tinnitus
In addition, music therapy is sometimes used to enhance mood, reduce stress, and relieve pain.
So, what is Music Therapy? Ms. Wong offers this definition: “A music therapy session may incorporate a number of different elements, such as making music, writing songs, or passively listening to music. While music therapists often aim to foster the patient’s emotional expression, there can be many other different goals in a music therapy session (including enhancement of quality of life for people dealing with illness). Research shows that patients do not need to have any musical ability to benefit from music therapy.”