After silence, that which comes nearest to expressing the inexpressible is music. ~ Music at Night and Other Essays
Once again I am exploring a well-established topic about which I know little. I did know that music can soothe the spirit, as described in my December 2022 post. However, I had no idea it was a tool in any medical professional’s quiver. The first I heard of music therapy was when my cousin, David Putnam, and I were catching up at a family gathering. When I asked what he was up to, he told me about sessions he conducts at Mississippi State Hospital in Whitfield. David’s work intrigued me, and it might interest you as well. We’ll take a look at music therapy’s wide range of applications, but first, let’s check out the history.
Music that heals - a really old "new" idea
There’s a better than average chance that I’m not the only person for whom music therapy appears novel. But it isn’t. According to the Harmony & Healing site, it’s been around since the late 1700s. Perhaps it was used in ancient cultures, but let’s go with the sure thing – the 18th century. At the time, this concept, as applied in medical environments, was relatively new and it took hundreds of years of testing to prove its worth before it was accepted as a credible treatment. The initial efforts that emerged were for surgical applications, where music was played to alleviate anxiety. After WWII, doctors used music as treatment for soldiers returning from the battlefields with the trauma that their experiences inflicted.
Those large numbers generated by returning servicemen proved the efficacy of the treatment. Post WWII, music therapy became widely used for both psychiatric and physical disabilities. These methods have been routinely applied for more than 70 years at this point, and as of the date the Harmony & Healing article was written (August 2023), more than 40 countries use musical therapy.
How does music make it work?
For the answer to this question, I leaned heavily on the Music Therapy Hub, which has a YouTube channel and a Facebook page you can subscribe to. Anyway, there are a multitude of medical conditions that can be addressed with music. They range from the impact of strokes to PTSD to brain injury to Multiple Sclerosis and other situations that negatively impact a person’s well-being.
Treatment addresses cognitive, physical, emotional, and social issues. To illustrate, just one goal for each aspect might be:
- Cognitive — > memory
- Physical —-> motor skills
- Emotional —- > coping with grief
- Social — > communication skills
Music therapy engages different parts of the brain because you don’t just “hear” music. You feel it and you respond to it. Sometimes with movement. Sometimes by remembering the melody or even lyrics of a song. This means that a wide variety of ailments can be treated, not just those in the frontal lobe or the temporal lobe, but any lobe and likely multiples simultaneously. And it can lead to communication between parts of the brain.
The image below reflects the lobes and the division between the right and left brain. WEBMD elaborates on the differences, which aren’t as pronounced as previously believed. While it’s true that each side has its strengths, there are some possibilities for skills crossing the hemisphere, as it were. This might be a good time for me to say that this piece does not cover music therapy in any depth, that I am not a medical professional, nor have I even stayed at a Holiday Inn Express. I am interpreting what I have found online, for what that’s worth. Onward.
- Frontal lobe – reason, motor control, emotion & language
- Temporal Lobe – receiving auditory information & encoding memory
- Parietal Lobe – receives & processes sensory input
- Occipital – visual processing
- Cerebellum – fine motor movement & balance
And Healthcare Professionals do this how?
Therapists who use music* have options with their treatment plans, as with any other methodology. By playing a song, they can change the patient’s mood to either bring them up or settle them down. When stroke victims have difficulty speaking, sometimes they are still able to sing. That way they learn to talk again, as shown in the video (down below). Yet other situations might require movement, so the patient might move to the rhythm.
David plays the guitar; some therapists play the piano or another instrument. In an article published by Penn State Health, I learned that in some cases the patients participate in making music as well, with tambourines, castanets, or other hand-held instruments. They might also discuss how they feel about a song or even write music. It is noteworthy that therapists collaborate with the medical team and assess their patients each time they provide treatment.
Based on what I’ve read and the videos I’ve watched, the process can be lengthy. That will come as no surprise to anyone who has had physical therapy for injuries to extremities, pulled muscles, or concussions. Getting better can be both difficult and time-consuming.
There are plenty of sites on this topic, but the American Music Therapy Association has more details than most.
What you didn't know you knew
After I had decided to write a post on music therapy, I asked David what he would like everyone to understand about the process, and this is what he said, “Just listening to music that goes through many emotions is very cathartic. Feeling sadness or anger and matching emotions with the right songs is an art in itself and then one can change the moods of the music to reach an intended emotion.”
I think we can all relate to the way our moods can change with the first notes of an old song or hymn. We might feel our mood lighten or tear up with old memories as we recall the first–or last–time we heard the melody. Music touches us all. That makes it easy to embrace the concept of music as a gentle way to coax our brains and our bodies back to functionality. Or at least facilitate improvement.
Most of us aren’t board-certified music therapists. However, the prescriptions aren’t ingested. We probably can’t get into too much trouble by applying some music to our lives when we feel the need to change our moods. I do. Sometimes I just want a little blue time, you know, to take care of my dry eyes. I turn on Vince Gill singing “Go Rest High on that Mountain,” and the waterworks begin. The opposite happens when I listen to Johnny Cash’s “A Boy Named Sue.”
I already knew what type of music will trigger which emotion when it comes to music. I just didn’t consider the healthcare implications. Now that I know a little about it, I am ever so appreciative that there’s a non-invasive way to help people to mend wounds that we cannot see.
You?
The exercise class I used to teach for Parkinson’s patients was heavily based on music that included, drumming, singing and dancing. They loved it and I can tell how it improved their mood by the end of the class.
You are full of surprises. And yet, not. 😉
Interesting piece. It makes sense to me because the health problems are exacerbated by the busy mind. Distracting or redirecting the busy mind for relieve is logical.
I would agree. We think differently when we aren’t under pressure.