Life is short but life’s journey can be tedious. The process of living is full of challenges, ups and downs, expectations and disappointments, pleasant and unpleasant – feelings.
People come and go, events occur all leaving an imprint in the mind space. While some of them are pleasant, some others could be unbearable and irreconcilable. No reasoning can assuage the pain in such bitter experiences. It is here that music can play a major role.
Music of your choice that makes you feel good can act as a mood elevator. By consciously diverting your mind away from the pain location, one could make the process of living less painful and more pleasant.
One can thus pamper oneself with music, the same way a child indulges in eating a sweetmeat of her choice.
Pampering oneself is necessary as we are living in a world dominated by reasons. Unfortunately, everything which is life-giving and life-supporting is directly linked to the creative, intuitive and emotional facet of our personality. While reason divides people, emotion brings in closeness and camaraderie. Music helps us in balancing ourselves so that we do not cease to be a compassionate human being.
Music therapy – like music – is as old as the human civilization itself. All the philosophers of ancient Greece believed in the healing role of music as did the ancient Native Americans, who used chanting and other musical practices as part of their healing rituals. However, music therapy came to be regarded as a formal discipline only during World War I, particularly in the United States, as there was a need to help the growing number of disabled soldiers in Veterans Administration hospitals.
Music therapy is the conscious deployment of sound and music with a view to induce relaxation, promote healing, enhance mental functioning, and create an overall sense of well-being. Though basically aimed as a preventive measure, music therapy is also reported to have turned out to be a cure in certain cases.
Music therapy can target both individuals as well as a group of individuals. Thus, we can isolate the ideal musical structures and sound combinations that affect various human groups: unborn foetuses inside pregnant women, children, teen-agers, adults, seniors and those who are terminally ill, awaiting the arrival of death.
A typical music therapy session is conceived to involve the individuals in listening to or performing music selected by a trained guide.
Considered variously as a “holistic therapy”, “complementary therapy”, “creative arts therapy” or “expressive therapy”‘, music therapy can be used alone or in conjunction with other therapies in a healing session. However, recent evidence indicates that in combination with other medical interventions, music therapy enhances their curative role.
Music therapy: The Mechanism
The mechanism involved in Music therapy is as mysterious as music itself. The complex nature of music is due to the fact that it is strongly associated with our consciousness and also the individual tastes and preferences, likes and dislikes. It also has a strong regional fervour as music could be distinguished variously as Eastern, Western, Folk, Classical, Cinematic and what not and each one of them variously affects its listeners. Some dislike one genre as the same genre is listened to with awe and veneration by some other people.
The research carried out so far prima facie indicates that before using music for prophylactic or therapeutic purposes, it is essential to study the individuals closely and based on their physical constitution and musical choice, musical structures or pieces have to be selected involving them in the process of selection.
It is noteworthy here that generalized preparation of music (e.g., music for the depressed, music for hypertension etc.) targeted commercially on a massive scale in recent years have not very much clicked with the masses as their impact has been somewhat ambivalent.
Musical Experience
Most people tend to experience a visceral reaction to music: a burst of energy upon hearing an upbeat song – with cymbals and drums – or a sense of calm during a soothing classical piece played in slow tempo and in strings.
Music therapy is actually built on this clear connection between music and mood. Several neurological studies indicate that music can even affect physiological functions, such as respiration, heart rate and blood pressure, as well. It has also been shown to lower amounts of the hormone, cortisol, which becomes elevated under stress, and to increase the release of endorphins, the body’s natural “feel-good” hormones.
Music plays a role psychologically as well. With its in-built rhythms, resonance, beats and lyrics, a melody can be a kind of language in and of itself. In appropriate combinations, it can be a powerful non-verbal assertion and consolation for its listeners. Because of this, music therapy can be used to help the mentally and physically disabled to come out of their shells and express themselves freely and fearlessly.
This speaker, on more than one occasion, has observed that music encourages introverted patients to become freer and more outgoing with others and can be effectively used to draw schizophrenic and autistic patients out of their isolated cocoons.
Music therapy can also help the stroke victims and other patients with neurological disorders through a process called “entrainment.” As these patients are given a diet of rhythmic music) their muscle movements become synchronized with the beat. As their motions become more regular and efficient, their motor skills improve in turn over a time – depending on the damages they have encountered previously. Entertainment can also induce a sedative, relaxing response if the music is based on rather a slow, steady rhythm and is constructed as an iterative structure as we find in slow bhajans and kirtans or in shloka-recitations.
Music therapy can also distract patients from their negative experiences (such as trauma due to irreparable loss or accident). It is essential that all trauma victims are exposed immediately to pleasant music of their choice in low decibels as a part of medication or surgery in hospitals and nursing homes. It has been proved that this therapy is an effective intervention in keeping the people’s mind away from the pain locus, particularly in dental work, surgery and labour.
Individual-Based Therapeutic Session
As in psychotherapy or physiotherapy, music therapy involves the active participation of both the listeners and the guide.
A session in music therapy includes a number of tasks for a therapist: talking with the patient in order to identify the problems, symptoms and needs; assessing the physical, emotional and social personality of the patient along with communication abilities, and cognitive skills through the way he or she responds musically; designing an appropriate treatment program by selecting appropriate music most suitable for the patient-type. Such a treatment program will include playing or performing music, listening to music, consciously creating, improvising and feeling the musical structure for its therapeutic impact, talking freely about the images or feelings created by the musical inputs etc. It has been noticed that performing music with others having similar kinds of problems/ ailments and interacting with them musically brings in a greater sense of relaxation and satisfaction. It is also gratifying to note that patients need not have any formal previous exposure to music in order to receive its benefits. On the contrary, it has been found that people with no previous knowledge/ exposure to music respond more quickly to music rather than those who have knowledge of it.
Recent studies reveal that music therapy is effective at promoting relaxation, relieving anxiety and stress, and treating depression. It welcomes and pampers people with emotional problems lovingly, like a mother to explore feelings, make positive changes in mood, practice problem solving, and resolve conflicts. It can strengthen communication and physical coordination skills, and improve the physical and mental functioning of all those with neurological or developmental disorders. It has been used to complement the treatment of AIDS, stroke, Parkinson’s, and cancer. Those with learning disabilities and speech and hearing problems have also found that music therapy could be helpful for them.
As the types of patients, treatment programs and durations – all vary, the music therapist seems to be facing more challenges than his client as he has to work in different settings and interact musically with a variety of clients located variously – in office, home, hospice, maternity ward, gym, post-operation ward, ICU, children’s nursery, old age home, prison, front office reception, educational institution, health clubs, leisure resorts and what not.
What he needs is not only flexibility and patience to cope up with the varying demands from such groups and individuals but also a sense of involvement, innovation and instant creativity abreast with the developments in the process of music making. He would face challenges even in correctly assessing the client’s physical health, emotional well-being, social functioning, avenues for expression and communication. As a holistic medicine man perhaps he himself needs a dose of appropriate music, before he starts preaching or prescribing the same to others.
After all, charity begins at home!
This article was published in Shanmukha January to June 2007 – Pages 39, 40, 41
Edited by Geeta Shreedar, July 16, 2021