Music Therapy-A Quick Primer

Then, Now, and When

Al-Farabi-The Beginning• Known in Western cultures as

“Alpharabius”, Al-Farabi (b. 872-d. 950) is considered by many to be the first ever practitioner of music therapy.

• A musician himself, his book Kitab al-Musiqa (The Book Of Music) tries to find reason in the sonic qualities of music. Another book, Meanings Of The Intellect, discusses ways in which music can be therapeutic to the soul.

MT Comes Stateside• Michigan State broke new ground in 1944 by

becoming the first school in the United States to offer an undergraduate program in music therapy. Nearly every US state is home to a university (including CSU) that offers a program in music therapy.

• The AMTA (American Music Therapy Assocation) was founded in 1998 as a merger between The National Assoc. of Music Therapy and the American Assoc. of Music Therapy. The AMTA acts as a resource for both people interested in MT as well as established industry professionals.

MT in the UK• In 1968, Juliette Alvin, a French cellist,

created the first music therapy training program at the Guildhall School Of Music And Drama in London.

• One of her top students, Mary Priestley, went on to become a legendary educator in her own right. She is credited with the development of analytic music therapy (late 1970’s) (psychoanalysis combined with music therapy) and has written many books on the subject that are still studied today.

What’s Going On Today?

• A 2007 survey by the Society for the Arts in Healthcare found that an estimated 35% of facilities offer some sort of music healing or therapy available.

• The number of contract therapists are also on the rise. The AMTA’s website reports that over 3,000 of their members are not directly affiliated with a hospital.

So, How Can It Help?• Since music therapy is a very flexible and complex form of treatment, there’s a great

variety in the different ailments that have been included in case studies. MT treatments have been attempted in cases such as (but not limited to):

• Alzheimer's• Dementia• Autism• Stroke• Public/Personal Anxiety• Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder• Epilepsy

• AMTA-certified music therapist Kimberly Sena Moore, a strong advocate for her profession, has noted in multiple publications that the same neurological circuits that service speech are also used in listening and singing music. This could explain a strong link between music therapy and improvement in verbal cognitive skills.

Music Therapy & Stroke Treatment

• Since 2000, multiple studies have found that music therapy improves the rates of recovery and emotional/social deficits resulting from stroke.

• A 2007 experimental study by South Korean doctors Seonghee Jeong and Miyong T. Kim found that stroke patients who underwent music therapy gained greater flexibility and range of motion than patients who only underwent traditional treatments. Additionally, the MT patients exhibited signs of more frequent social interactions and more complex conversations after their surgery. http://www.appliednursingresearch.org/article/S0897-1897%2807%2900057-2/pdf

Sounds pretty brainy.

• The results of Jeong and Kim’s study gives hope for those who are trying to draw a link between MT and brain functions.

• Cases featuring other ailments with roots in the brain have seen improvement from music therapy, too.

Music Therapy and Alzheimer’s Treatment

• Paul Nordoff and Clive Robbins, founders of the Nordoff-Robbins approach to therapy, believe that “everyone can respond to music, no matter how ill or disabled.”

• Oliver Sacks, a professor at Columbia and noted believer in the Nordoff-Robbins theory, has researched many cases of Alzheimer's patients who have been treated with Music Therapy.

Music Therapy and Alzheimer’s Treatment (continued)

• Sacks has been previously quoted as a supporter of MT for Alzheimer’s “because of its unique capacity to organize or reorganize cerebral function when it has been damaged.”

• In his book Musicophilia, Sacks works extensively with patients who have been involved in a great deal of music throughout their lives. In one extraordinary example, he had been able to use therapy to illicit a response from a former professional pianist stricken with Alzheimer’s. The man has lost all ability to communicate via language, but was still able to play sonatas written by Mozart.

• Continued therapy sessions with this patient saw him progress to communication through grunts and physical gestures when music was involved in the treatment.

Music Therapy and Other Ailments

• A BBC report on a study by the Cochrane Foundation found that patients on ventilator care reacted better to music than to drugs during forced ventilation.http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-11935522

• While the study maintained a small sample size, PhysOrg.com reported on a study that found listening to music helped to alleviate pain and catalyze speech recovery in patients with brain injuries.

• http://www.physorg.com/news197547474.html

Roadblocks

• Unfortunately, given the experimental nature of music therapy, many medical professionals are unwilling to spend time or resources on its rehabilitative potential. The studies are often expensive to conduct, which forces many researchers to conduct their studies with small sample sizes. It’s very difficult for the medical community to take a study’s findings as fact when its effects have been studied in such a limited capacity.

To the future…

• Sacks’ studies may be some of the best known studies of experimental music therapy. However, they’re just the tip of the iceberg, as more and more universities and medical centers are allocating funds for further study.

• Creative Arts in Therapy, an online resource for therapists to discuss their trade, notes that the recent Affordable Health Care Bill for America could be beneficial for music therapists. The bill could lead towards a greater allocation of funds for therapists, as well as resources for continued education and training.

• http://creativeartsintherapy.com/music-therapy/7-ways-health-care-reform-could-affect-music-therapy/