Music Therapy Incomplete

2 Pages 487 Words

Music therapy is the prescribed use of music and musical interventions in order
to restore, maintain, and improve emotional, physical, physiological, and
spiritual health and well-being (Lindberg). So one finds the selections under
the New Age/Relaxation section of the record store about as relaxing as water
torture? Just because one's taste runs more to Sousa than to soothing doesn't
mean one can't reap all these relaxation benefits music is supposed to have.
Music therapy works primarily by changing moods, which alters brain chemistry.
This can have many effects--making concentration easier, easing anxiety and
fostering patience(Hendrick-16). "Music," as the old saying goes,
"has charms to soothe the savage beast." It can improve a person's
psychological, cognitive, and social functioning--especially when it has
familiar lyrics that evoke pleasant memories and a strong , repetitive beat that
makes it easy to follow along (Sacks). "(Rhythm) is there in the cycles of
the seasons, in the migrations of the birds and animals, in the fruiting and
withering of plants, and in the birth, maturation, and death of
ourselves."--Mickey Hart of Grateful Dead "(Music Therapy) can make
the difference between withdrawal and awareness, between isolation and
interaction, between chronic pain and comfort, between demoralization and
dignity."--Barbara Crowe (Quotes About...) "It lifts us from our
frozen mental habits and makes our minds move in ways they ordinarily
cannot...when the sound stops, we fall back into our mental wheelchairs."--
Robert Jourdain (McDonnel-C05) Music Therapy benefits many types of people, such
as the mentally ill, abused, terminally ill, developmental learning disabled,
and academic learning disabled. The goals of music therapy include improving
self-esteem, improving social interactions with peers, increasing participation,
developing coping skills, reducing stress anxiety, creating a non-abusive
lifest...