What is Music Psychotherapy?
“When words fail, music speaks.” – Hans Christian Andersen
It goes without saying how powerful music can be. Just think about the times a song moved you to tears – perhaps it was an orchestral arrangement of a classical piece, the rawness of a singer’s voice in a ballad or the lyrics to a song that really spoke to you.
Now imagine being able to process those feelings that surfaced in a safe, non-judgemental space, with the help of a therapist. That’s the basis of music psychotherapy.
The College of Registered Psychotherapists of Ontario (CRPO) defines the practice of psychotherapy as “the assessment and treatment of cognitive, emotional or behavioural disturbances by psychotherapeutic means, delivered through a therapeutic relationship based primarily on verbal or non-verbal communication. Goals in psychotherapy can include increased self-awareness, changes in emotions and attitudes, developing healthy relationships, and gaining insight into the self.”
Traditionally, psychotherapy is a verbal experience – both the client and the therapist use verbal discourse to communicate, develop a relationship and work towards agreed-on goals.
By contrast, music psychotherapy incorporates music experiences in addition to or in lieu of the traditional types of verbal discourse. These types of music experiences can include listening to music (pre-recorded or live), making music (songwriting or improvisation), singing (to pre-recorded music or live instrumentals) and lyric analysis. Music can be extremely potent and can bring up feelings and memories you didn’t know were there. It is also a great tool for those who are having trouble expressing their feelings through verbal means.
No musical experience from the client is required, and the incorporation of music can vary from session to session – some may consist mostly of music experiences, while others can be primarily or solely verbal.
Benefits of Music Psychotherapy
Incorporating music into a psychotherapy session has many benefits, including:
Reducing anxiety
Incorporating music into a psychotherapy session can assist in alleviating physical and mental symptoms of anxiety. One way it can do so is through a technique called the iso principle, where music is matched to an individuals’ present mood and then adapted to facilitate mood adjustment.
Some studies also suggest that music can reduce blood pressure and the heartbeat, which can have a direct impact on how stressed a person feels. Additionally, music affects the amount of stress hormones, such as adrenaline and cortisol, that the body releases, and reducing these hormones can help relieve symptoms of anxiety.
Reducing depression
Although music psychotherapy is not a cure for depression, it can offer short-term benefits by improving mood and encouraging self-expression. Not only does it help improve communication and allows you to explore negative feelings, but it also provides you with a new and effective coping mechanism for feelings of depression.
Studies suggest that music therapy can improve symptoms of depression, with those undergoing music therapy along with standard treatments for depression — such as talking therapy — improving more than people who only received standard therapy.
Listening to music can also release dopamine, which is a hormone that makes people feel good, and endorphins, which are hormones that can induce happy moods and relieve pain.
Encouraging creative self-expression
Music in psychotherapy allows you to express yourself in a creative way, which can be a more enjoyable way of exploring difficult emotions. Whether it’s singing your favourite song, writing lyrics or improvising, these techniques are safe and non-threatening ways to express your feelings and emotions.
Benefits of Music Psychotherapy for Children Adolescents with Emotional Disorders
Research and studies have shown that music psychotherapy can be especially beneficial for children and adolescents with emotional disorders. Music is not only a familiar and relatable medium for children and adolescents, but it is also an excellent resource for reaching them and facilitating self-expression (just think about the times you were feeling angry as a teen and turned to music to really feel those emotions).
Techniques such as song discussion and listening are safe and non-confrontive tools that allow for the projection of personal thoughts and feelings into the discussion and can provide a common starting place for discussion and self-disclosure.
Some benefits include:
Facilitating both verbal and non-verbal self-expression
Improving self-awareness and self-confidence
Decreasing feelings of stress and anxiety
Increasing appropriate social behaviours (ie. find more socially acceptable ways of venting anger, hostility and rage)
Overall, incorporating music into a psychotherapy session is a safe, non-judgmental and enjoyable way to work through difficult feelings and emotions.
This post was written by wellbe’s registered psychotherapist Madelyn Chung. Ready to try music psychotherapy? Book your first visit with her here.