Music therapy is a professional discipline that uses music to promote mental, physical, emotional, and spiritual health, with proven effectiveness in treating various conditions, including dementia and autism. This form of therapy can help improve cognitive function, emotional expression, and social interaction, making it a valuable intervention across different age groups and health issues. Research supports its benefits in reducing stress, pain, and enhancing overall well-being through structured therapeutic sessions led by accredited music therapists.

1. Music Therapy Essay
Music Therapy: Is It The Cure To Mental & Physical Problems?
Music therapy is defined as the skillful use of music and musical elements by an accredited music
therapist to promote, maintain, and restore mental, physical, emotional, and spiritual health. Music
has nonverbal, creative, structural, and emotional qualities. These are used in the therapeutic
relationship to facilitate contact, interaction, self–awareness, learning, self–expression,
communication, and personal development (Source: Canadian Association of Music Therapy).
In other words, music therapy is the use of music by a trained professional to achieve therapeutic
goals. Goal areas include, but are not limited to, motor skills, social/interpersonal development,
cognitive...show more content...
In essence, music produces a counter to the stress response, in that relaxation is promoted, and the
body is returned to a healthier balance (Source: Watkins, G. Music Therapy: Proposed Physiological
Mechanisms and Clinical Implications, 1997).
How Music Affects the Body
All music components of music – Tempo, pitch, volume, and rhythm – affect our body. Tempo is
defined as the pace of the music. Tempos in the range of 60– 70 beats per minute have been found
to be most soothing, because they reflect the similar tempo of the heart. A pace faster than that
causes tension, while a pace slower than that creates the feeling of suspense. The pitch or highness or
lowness of a sound is determined by the frequency of sound waves and it acts on the autonomic
nervous system. A high pitch causes tension, while a low pitch promotes relaxation. The volume, or
intensity/loudness of the music, can cause pain if very high, yet can be soothing and relaxing if low.
Rhythm helps the body to regain the order that it had previous to the stress caused by the medical
illness or condition. Specifically, music assists in restoring the circadian rhythms of temperature and
sleep, the ultradian rhythms of autonomic system regulation, metabolic processes, and cerebral
dominance, and the rhythms of respiration, peristalsis, and heart rate. In addition, for infants born
premature or ill, music helps to recreate the order of the fetal environment experienced in utero, and
promotes a low
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2. Music Therapy
IntroductionIn this research paper, the effectiveness of music therapy on the cognitive degenerative
disorder of dementia will be evaluated. To support the contention that music therapy is effective in
treating the symptoms of dementia, research documenting this therapy's impact on memory,
emotions, and behavior will be examined. In order to provide a greater understanding of music
therapy and dementia, these terms will be defined. Second, research will be examined to determine
music therapy's impact on the psychological and behavioral issues associated with dementia. Finally,
a summary of music therapy's benefits and an evaluation of its effectiveness in treating individuals
afflicted with dementia will be discussed....show more content...
Alzheimer 's disease causes 50% to 60% of all cases of dementia (National Institute of
Neurological Disorders and Stroke). In addition, researchers have found that two other nervous
system conditions, Lewy body disease and Pick 's disease, which were originally incorrectly
diagnosed as Alzheimer 's, are emerging as major causes of dementia (National Institute of
Neurological Disorders and Stroke). Dementia is considered a late–life disease because it tends to
develop mostly in elderly people; as many as half of all people over the age of eighty are
suspected of suffering from Alzheimer 's disease (National Institute of Neurological Disorders and
Stroke). Doctors administer a variety of strategies to diagnose dementia (National Institute of
Neurological Disorders and Stroke). It is extremely important that all treatable conditions first be
ruled out, such as depression and Vitamin B12 deficiency, which can cause the same type of
symptoms as dementia (National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke). Timely and
accurate diagnosis of dementia is extremely important for both the patient and their families because
it allows early treatment of symptoms (National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke). A
variety of tests are used to aid in the diagnosis process, such as neurological evaluations, in which
doctors look specifically at patients' balance, sensory responses, reflexes, and various other functions
(National
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3. Music Therapy Outline
Nakayla Smiley
Ms. Thomas
English IV, 1st
20 April 2017
Music Therapy
Thesis: Music Therapy is a skillful use of music and musical elements by an accredited music
therapist to promote, maintain, and restore mental, physical, emotional, and spiritual health.
I.Introduction
A. What is music therapy?
B. Music therapy is a skillful use of music and musical elements by an accredited music therapist to
promote, maintain, and restore mental, physical, emotional, and spiritual health.
C. Music has nonverbal, creative, structural, and emotional qualities.
D. There are no potentially harmful or toxic effects.
II.Body
A. Musical therapist work with people for many different reasons.
1. Music therapy is used in hospitals to help patients reduce...show more content...
Music can change mood, have stimulant or sedative effects, and after physiologic process such as
heart rate and breathing.
Hilliard, R. E. "Music Therapy in Hospice and Palliative Care: A Review of the Empirical Data." C.
Music therapy should be done only by a certified music therapist.
1. Degrees in music therapy became available in the late 1940s, and in 1950s, the first
professional association of music therapist was formed in the U.S. a. You must pass a certification
exam. b. To be certified, a candidate must complete a bachelor's or higher degree in music therapy
from an approved college or university program, as well as 1,200 hours in clinical training followed
by a supervised internship. c. Some music therapist are self–employed and may be hired on a
contractual basis to provide assessment, consultation, or treatment services for children and adults.
Bruscia, Kenneth E. Defining music therapy.
III.Conclusion
A.Music has been used throughout human history to express and affect human emotion.
B.B. The Old Testament describes King Saul as finding relief from his mood disorder through
listening to David's harp music.
C.C. Music can relieve muscle tension and improve motor
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4. Music Therapy
Music is the Best Medicine Music has been around for thousands of years; it can be used for
entertainment, teaching, or healing and coping. One reason people today listen to music is to help
get them through rough times. The structural composition of music can influence a person's
thoughts and mood simply through the right chord progression. It has now become an acceptable
modality for certain psychological and medicinal mechanisms. Music has recently developed into a
therapeutic mechanism for situations stretching from autistic people to the average person
struggling with heart break or simply just focusing. Music therapy has been highly recommended as
a treatment in facilitating communication. People with autism are crippled with significant...show
more content...
"In 2009 a study found that children with autism showed more emotional expression and social
engagement during their music therapy sessions as opposed to play sessions without music" (Vivo).
"In the study, children also responded more frequently to their therapist's request than in sessions
without music" (Vivo). Music can act as a security blanket for some people. For the children in this
study, the music they listened to during their play sessions made them feel secure and allowed them
to open up and engage with the other children in their therapy session. Not only can listening to
music assist in a child's therapy engagement, but "a skilled therapist can use music to increase a
child's social interaction and skills" (Vivo). "Therapy can increase the interactions of children by
passing and sharing instruments, games that involve movement and music, and gathering around a
central instrument" (Vivo). Children learn to socialize whether it is through their verbal
communication skills or their non–verbal communication skills. The children are put in a situation
where they are forced to socialize however; the music provides an element of protection and security
resulting in an autistic child who is no longer wandering around the room in fear but engaging in
activities with a smile on their
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5. Essay about Music As Therapy
Music As Therapy
There was never a question in my mind that music possesses a strong element to help people. It
has always been a stress reliever in my life. There is research that supports the belief that music is
an instrumental part or impact on a wider realm of physical and mental disorders or disabilities.
Music is known to set the mood or atmosphere for all types of situations. There is extensive research
completed on this subject.
Just take a look around. When you look at a movie it is filled with just the right music at the right
time to convey the way the writer/ director wants you to feel. Call any major corporation for
customer service assistance and you will here hold music to make you feel less tense and patient. This
...show more content...
Music therapy can also help individuals on their journey of self–growth and understanding." (Music
Therapy FAQ) A method called, the Bonny Method of Guided Imagery and Music. The technique
is better known as GIM. It was developed by a music therapist named Dr. Helen Bonny. "When
used as a therapeutic tool, GIM can lead to a deep uncovering of hidden emotional response and
stimulate creative insights. (Music Therapy FAQ) The 20th century discipline began after World
War I and WWII when community musicians of all types, both amateur and professional, went to
Veteran hospitals around the country to play for the thousands of the patients. Notable physical and
emotional responses to music led the doctors and nurses to request the hiring of musicians by the
hospitals. It was soon evident that the hospital musicians needed some prior training before entering
the facility and so the demand grew for a college curriculum. The first music therapy degree
program in the world, founded at Michigan State University in 1944, celebrated its 50th anniversary
in 1994. The American Music Therapy Association was founded in 1998 as a union or the National
Association for Music Therapy and the American Association for Music Therapy.
In order for these sessions to take place the system needs people to teach the system. These are the
dedicated ones that work one on one with clients with the disorders. Music Therapists design music
sessions for
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6. Music Therapy
Music therapy is used to treat people for various reasons and there are multiple styles of treatment
presently being used. Music therapy is an effective form of therapy that is used on people of all ages
to improve quality of life.
Music therapy has been used in the medical industry for more than 60 years and there are many
people who have no idea what it is. During W.W.I.,music therapy in the United States began to
develop when music was used in the Veterans Administration Hospitals as an intervention to address
traumatic war injuries. There were several musicians who were not working and they would go to
the Veteran hospitals to play for the injured soldiers. "Numerous doctors and nurses witnessed the
effect music had on veterans'...show more content...
In addition, music therapy is beneficial for people who suffer from substance abuse, brain injuries,
and acute pain, to mothers who are in labor (American Music Therapy Association, Inc., 1999).
Music Therapy has had numerous clinical studies to suggest that not only musical therapy is an
effective means of treatment, but the sound of music is soothing and comfortable, and it lowers
cortisol, a stress hormone, as much as 25%. The music can reduce pain for patients who have come
out of surgery, decreases nausea with patients who are receiving chemotherapy, and increases
awareness of self and environment. A study conducted at Yale University School of medicine proved
that patients who were awake during a surgical procedure listening to their favorite music need
lower doses of pain medication than patients who did not listen to music (Syed, 2006).
Developmentally disabled individuals and individuals with mental health needs are also receptive
and benefit from music therapy. Music therapy for autistic individuals has helped to teach social
interacting, encouraging the desire to communicate, and minimizing non–communicative speech.
"As far as autism is concerned, studies have shown that music therapy has a significant, positive
influence when used to treat autistic individuals" (Evans, 2008, para. 3). Children diagnosed with
autism are very receptive to music therapy. It was stated "Music
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