Music therapy – What is it, Types and Treatment

Music therapy is a psychotherapeutic method in which the health of the body and psyche is to be restored or maintained with the help of music. Music can provide direct access to deep feelings and long-forgotten memories without words. This makes them a powerful therapeutic tool. Music therapy is often offered in clinics as part of a therapy concept. Read here what you do in music therapy.

What is music therapy?

Music plays an important role in people’s lives. Even before birth, we perceive voices and sounds in the mother’s womb. Some melodies make us happy and make us dance, others create sadness.

Neurologists were able to use imaging techniques to show that music has a proven effect on our brain structure. Music creates access to our inner world. This allows deeply hidden feelings to surface.

Our ancestors already knew that music also has a healing effect. Music has been used to treat patients since ancient times. Nowadays, music therapy is offered as therapeutic support in clinics or outpatient practices. Music therapy can take place in an individual setting as well as in a group.

Depending on the therapist’s training focus, music therapy is based, among other things, on deep psychological, behavioral therapy, medical or neurological principles.

Types of music therapy:

– Drumming

– Playing instruments

– Singing familiar songs with recorded or live accompaniment

– Listening to recorded or live music

What is the treatment of music therapy?

If you want to do music therapy, you don’t have to have any musical skills. Music therapy is suitable for people of all ages. It is used successfully for mental disorders such as depression or anxiety disorders, but also for people with dementia, autism, or physical illnesses.

Music therapy offers the advantage that it initially works without speech. This means that even people who have difficulties with speaking or with language comprehension can make contact with the therapist through music.

Nevertheless, some people find it difficult to access music. It therefore, makes sense to try out this type of therapy in a first trial session. Music therapy is inappropriate if the patient refuses it.

Even if a patient is still in an acute traumatic state after a bad experience, music therapy can be problematic because it can intensify the negative feelings. In the case of patients who suffer from migraines or tinnitus, it must be ensured that they do not perceive the music as an additional burden.

What do I have to consider after music therapy?

After a music therapy session, you should take time to let the music linger. Feel inside yourself what feelings are there and allow yourself some rest to process them.

In the next session, the music therapist will ask how you felt after the therapy session. A brief deterioration is not uncommon at first, as the feelings can be overwhelming. If you are feeling stressed or overwhelmed, you should tell the music therapist.

Towards the end of the therapy, the music therapist decides together with the patient whether it makes sense to extend the therapy or not. Relapses are not uncommon in mental disorders. So don’t be afraid to seek help again if you’re not feeling well after completing music therapy.