Topics
Page Two
Masthead
|
Topics |
Page Two |
Masthead |
|
|
| ||
| ||
The Profound Effects of Music on the Mind By Christina Palmer Music is one of the few things that can powerfully move large numbers of people with a wealth of emotion and feeling, and yet at the same time form such personal and intimate connections for an individual so as to create lifelong associations of memories and emotions. Music is something that can bring us together and help create understanding. We can all agree that music has the power to alter our emotions and enhance our experiences. It has the ability to transport us to another place or to sooth our mental state. Aside from being a comfort or distraction, does music have the power to help heal? Musicophilia, a recently published book by Dr. Oliver Sacks, has created a great deal of publicity for a field that has basically been around since the beginning of medicine and healing. So much so, that the Journal of the San Francisco Medical Society dedicated its March issue entirely to Music and Medicine. Of particular interest was a piece on Music Therapy (MT) at Langley Porter Psychiatric Institute by Tom Benson (MT-BC) of UCSF. But what is music therapy, how it began, and how is it utilized today is something of a mystery to many of us not in the field. Music therapy is about as old as the practice of healing itself. While popular in practice among shamanists, witch doctors, and faith healers, music therapy in its modern incarnation dates to the post-World War II era(1). With thousands of solders returning from war with “shell-shock”, what we know today as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), veterans’ hospitals were full. Starting in Kansas, local musicians began visiting these hospitals to play for the veterans and many of them began to improve1. But the musicians were not trained therapists and did not understand what the patients needed or how to respond to their behavior or symptoms and how to constructively use music intervention. The recognition of the profoundly effective use of music on metal and emotional disorders drove the profession, mixing music and clinical therapy(2). What IS music therapy? “Music Therapy is an established healthcare profession that uses music to address physical, emotional, cognitive, and social needs of individuals of all ages”(3). Music therapy can improve the quality of life for persons who are well and meets the needs of children and adults with disabilities or illnesses. Music therapists work collaboratively with physicians, social workers and other hospital staff to create interventions designed to promote wellness, manage stress, alleviate pain, express feelings, enhance memory, improve communication and promote physical rehabilitation. So, what do Music Therapists (MTs) do? According to AMTA (the American Music Therapy Association), the umbrella organization which regulates and certifies MT programs and administers board certification to music therapists, in the traditional form: Music therapists assess emotional well-being, physical health, social functioning, communication abilities, and cognitive skills through musical responses; design music sessions for individuals and groups based on client needs using music improvisation, receptive music listening, song writing, lyric discussion, music and imagery, music performance, and learning through music. [They] participate in interdisciplinary treatment planning, ongoing evaluation, and [patient] follow up3. To become a music therapist is to have two passions: One for music, as music therapy programs are generally administered under the auspices of collegiate music departments, and a passion to help and counsel people, as all music therapists are also clinically trained therapists that undergo demanding clinical training to become Board Certified (BC), as is required to practice Music Therapy. Music therapists must not only have a gift for music but also a keen understanding of how people interpret and understand music and how music can affect a person’s mental, as well as physical, state. To become a practicing music therapist, one must receive training at the undergraduate level and can further their studies at the masters and doctoral level. To become board-certified in the United States, a music therapist must complete all course work at an accredited college or university, successfully complete a 1040 hour music therapy internship, and pass the board examination. For information on various music programs throughout the United States, see the AMTA website at http://www.musictherapy.org/(3). Music Therapy at LPPI Music Therapy is successfully employed here at UCSF at the Langley Porter Psychiatric Institute (LPPI). According to Tom Benson (MT-BC) of LPPI, music therapy has a rich history here at UC. Tom interned at LPPI during his training and has worked as a music therapist and director of training in music therapy at Langley Porter since 1993. He has been and continues to be integral in the burgeoning music therapy movement, as is evidenced by his recent contribution to San Francisco Medicine1. As he explains, music therapy at Langley Porter is available in the Adult Inpatient and Partial Hospitalization Program (PHP) and is used in group therapy sessions focused on rehabilitation and cognitive therapy. As he describes, he and his staff use music interventions to help with such things as distress tolerance, managing emotions, interpersonal effectiveness, and mindfulness skills. A recent interview with Tom elucidated how music can be utilized in variety of ways in these therapy sessions. It can help patients to understand how they feel about being around other people; it can be a vehicle through which they can discuss emotional experiences; it can reduce stress by being a distraction; and most importantly for some, it can help patients achieve experiences in the “here and now” when they have become isolationist or have lost touch with reality. As one can imagine, the needs of patients vary greatly and, as a result, so do the types of therapy for which music is used. Activities performed in group sessions can include music making and improvisation, listening for relaxation and guided imagery, and lyric analysis which can help to define the “context of one’s emotional struggles.” These types of interaction with music and with other group members provide a context for the patients which defines “here and now” experiences and helps ground patients in the “reality of the moment”(2). The Future of Music and Medicine While music therapy has its roots in the treatment of mental illness it has now extended directly into various, more traditional, medical fields such as neurology and pain management(2). It is currently used to help treat young children with developmental delays, and it has been equally powerful in helping geriatric patients with Alzheimer’s disease or dementia in obtaining moments of lucidity and allowing for social engagement and reconnection, however brief, with loved ones2. And now research has demonstrated that music does not only have a profound effect on one’s psychological state, but can also be critical in one’s physical health and well-being. Current research supports the use of music as a tool, and as a partner, in integrated medicine whose combined effects can be much more profound that many of use may realize. 1. Benson, Thomas (2008). Music Therapy at Langley Porter. San Francisco Medicine, 81: 2, 19-20. | ||
Synapse is part of the Office of Student Life and Student Academic Affairs. | ||