Music therapy is the clinical use of music to help people improve their mental health and general well-being.
It takes the form of passive therapy and active therapy. Some passive forms include listening to music and discussing it while some active forms include making music, singing, dancing and even writing songs.
Music therapy is offered in hospitals, schools, nursing homes, mental health centres, residences for individuals with developmental disabilities and more. It is even offered in group settings. It helps military service members and veterans, people with autism spectrum disorder, people with chronic pain, substance abusers, individuals with Alzheimer’s disease, victims of trauma and crisis, people in correctional settings, individuals with mental health issues and more.
The benefits of music therapy are many but the main ones include improving memory, managing pain, increasing joy, self-reflection, lowered blood pressure and more. It leaves patients feeling calm, relaxed and even confident.
While music therapy is not a cure-all and is not adequate for medical conditions, it has been proven to greatly help and be a valuable component of treatment.
Before going for music therapy, you can consult a music therapist so you can know what to expect. These sessions work like those with a psychotherapist in how you can choose a schedule for music therapy. You can choose how often you wish to work with a music therapist (for example, once a week) based on your preferences. Depending on your goals, a typical session is around half an hour to an hour long.
Like regular therapy, music therapy has great effects and is not pressuring at all. It is all on your own needs and will alleviate some, if not most, of the issues you are facing. There is no shame in seeking any kind of therapy and this will grant you great benefits.
Resources:
Wikipedia