5 Ways Music Helps With Healing

By: Audrey Weatherstone, Music Therapist

Music therapy takes a unique approach to rehabilitation by using creative and expressive arts as a tool to address physical, cognitive, emotional, social, and spiritual goals.

Elements of music can affect significant changes to our brains and bodies, as well as tap into our emotions in powerful ways.

Music is an essential part of healing, especially in a rehabilitation setting, as it can make movement, speech, memory, and self-expression more accessible.

Here are 5 ways music helps with healing:

1. Self-Expression

Self-expression is crucial for processing stressful, painful, or traumatic circumstances, though it can be difficult to articulate the language to express these experiences. Music can be used as a tool for both verbal and nonverbal self-expression through improvisational music, songwriting, lyric analysis, or recreating preferred music. Music therapy has been shown to reduce agitation and anxiety by providing an accessible outlet for self expression.

2. Physiological Benefits

Music has remarkable effects on the body, and music therapy interventions can be tailored to reduce perceived pain and improve sleep. Music therapists use the “iso-principle,” a technique that matches the musical elements (rhythm, melody, pitch, tempo, etc.) to a person’s physiological state. Gradually, the music is altered to affect the desired outcome, as vitals such as heart rate, respiration, and blood pressure entrain to the music. Music stimulus has also been shown to block pain receptors or reinterpret pain signals, decreasing pain perception. Music therapy can be used as a non-invasive tool for distraction, relaxation, and procedural support for reducing pain and discomfort.

3. Emotional Support

Listening to or creating music is directly related to increased dopamine levels, which is one of the neurotransmitters that gives us feelings of pleasure and happiness. Many people experience dopamine deficiency due to medications, lack of movement or sleep, stress, depression, or specific conditions such as Parkinson’s disease. Similarly to physiological responses, we have emotional responses to music, which can also be altered using the iso-principle. When music is altered to meet a person where they are emotionally, and gradually shifted to the desired emotional state, people can experience benefits of elevated mood and reduced anxiety.

4. Community Support

In music therapy groups at Sheltering Arms Institute, patients have opportunities to experience positive social support by engaging in group songwriting, musical games, singing or active music making, and verbal discussion about song meaning and shared experiences. Community music therapy encourages participation and social inclusion, and offers opportunities for recreation and accessible leisure activities. Group engagement supports mood elevation, increases motivation, and decreases experiences of isolation.

5. Cognitive Benefits

Rhythm and melody are globally stored in the brain, making memory, speech, and movement accessible through music, even when areas of the brain have experienced trauma. Music is not processed by “music-specific” brain areas, but rather music processing engages all parts of the brain. Music shares processing centers with speech and language functions as well, making singing an effective intervention for enhancing speech and language perception and production. Additionally, within music, timing is predictable through the structure of the rhythm. Auditory and tactile rhythmic prompting can be used to enhance neuromuscular control and motor planning for movement interventions.

Check out the American Music Therapy Association (AMTA) and Academy of Neurologic Music Therapy (NMT) websites for more information, resources, and to find a music therapist near you.

References

Davis, W.B., Gfeller, K.E., Thaut, M.H. (2008). An introduction to music therapy theory and practice. (Ed.). Silver Spring, MD: The American Music Therapy Association.

Hanson-Abromeit, D., Colwell, C. M., & Cotter-Schaufele, S. (2010). Effective clinical practice in music therapy: Medical music therapy for adults in hospital settings. American Music Therapy Association.

Seibert, E. (2015, May 19). Let’s talk about Iso-Principle: The Introduction. One therapist’s opinion about music, the brain, and life. Retrieved January 7, 2022, from https://musictherapytime.com/2015/05/19/lets-talk-about-iso-principle-the-introduction/

Thaut, M., & Hömberg Volker. (2016). Handbook of Neurologic Music therapy. Oxford University Press.

Wheeler, B. L. (2017). Music therapy handbook. The Guilford Press.

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