Music Therapy

Music Therapy is used to help people of all different types to help improve the overall physical and mental well-being of any particular patient. Music Therapy is an accredited form of therapy is used to help millions people, developmental and physical issues. Many people are unaware of what music therapy entails, and don't think that it is a legitimate form of therapy.

Although it is hard to perform a quantitative study in music therapy, in many qualitative studies, music therapy is shown to improve quality of life for those who receive it. Many studies show that an increase in understanding and social skills occurs with people with learning disabilities. Music therapy has helped to improve comfort level for those suffering from cancer, Alzheimer's and other life threatening diseases. It is proven to help alleviate pain and stress for those that receive it, but it does not cure any cancers, it simply makes the situation more bearable for the patient.

Music Therapy is shown to significantly improve the lives of those suffering, from learning disabilities such as autism. It improves social and learning skills for those with learning disabilities. I had my internship at Buffalo Hearing and Speech, and I worked with several children with autism. Autism is such a wide range of emotional and behavioral problems, that it is easy to misdiagnose, without proper testing by professional. I worked with one child, who was very easily overly stimulated, and would grind her teeth. Before she would come for her individual session, my mentor would have me turn off all the lights in the room to create a better atmosphere for her to work in. She was about 6 years old, but she had the maturity and learning of a 1 to 2 year old. On the other hand I worked with a girl who also had autism, but wanted loud music and bright lights, which just exemplifies how much each client will differ in their specific needs.

The methods of music therapy someone will use differ on their client. If a music therapist was working with someone in a Hospice or end-of-life environment or someone undergoing treatments for a disease such as cancer, a music therapist might initiate the writing of a song to give to family members when they are gone. Or if you are working with someone who has a physical disability, the therapist might initiate drum playing or movement to music, depending on that persons physical ability. In children with different and emotional disorder, such as ADHD or autism, music therapy has been shown to significantly improve social skills and the ability of that individual to learn.

Although music therapy is really beginning to emerge to the public now, it has been around for over 60 year. Music therapy was used in WWII for veterans, who were under the emotional and physical stress of battle and injuries. In reality though music therapy has been used for much longer than that. Native