Music therapy as treatment: brimming with potential

Music is, without a doubt, capable of being soul-stirring — of being able to strike a chord, literally and figuratively. A prime example of this phenomenon is Benjamin Zander’s widely-streamed Ted Talk, “The Transformative Power of Classical Music”, which discusses how Chopin’s Prelude in E minor succinctly speaks to grief in profound, yet therapeutic ways. The piece meanders around in the key of E minor, starting on the fifth note of the scale — B, already off to a tense start, as the natural resolution of the piece would be on E. Then, it teases: it has the listener expect the E — the resolution. Zander reminds his audience of the final stage of grief: “acceptance”. As the piece ends on a resounding E, the resolution, the acceptance, is all the more hard-hitting because the listener has been expecting it with bated breath and an aching sense of desperation.

Arts and expression-based therapies are nothing new. These are innovative, yet safe ways to understand, and hopefully treat mental illnesses and disabilities. An established means of therapy, music therapy is practised in the U.K., the U.S., and across the world, having been tried and tested in a variety of contexts. From people undergoing anxiety and depression, to prison inmates, to university undergraduates, music therapy has been investigated, in both therapy sessions and research contexts.

Indeed, psychological research has been crucial in determining the effectiveness of music therapy. Recent meta-analyses and literature reviews of music therapy-related studies have been able to conclude that music therapy has an “overall medium to large effect on stress-related outcomes”.  These meta-analyses aim to summarise studies that investigate physiological markers (such as levels of the hormone cortisol, which is associated with stress) as well as cognitive results, which provide a holistic and comprehensive insight.

Real-life examples have also unequivocally contributed to music therapy being widely explored and studied

Additionally, real-life examples have also unequivocally contributed to music therapy being widely explored and studied. After suffering a stroke, artist Joni Mitchell was highly aided by music therapy in helping with mental health and motor skills, which neuroscientist Daniel Levitin claims was a “crucial” part of the recovery process.

Music therapy can also be administered in a myriad of ways, each tailored to the person undergoing therapy. Receptive music therapy, for example, is about listening attentively to music — internalising its qualities, and being an active person. On the other hand, music therapy can be active, calling for re-creation (as in, working over pre-existing music), improvisation, and composition. While the former may have a calm, soothing and focus-based approach, the latter asks for expression and involvement.

As such, it appears that music therapy is versatile — that it comes in many forms and can be tailored to suit a plethora of patients. Research papers point towards patients of dementia, children diagnosed with selective mutism and people with autism being helped. However, it becomes important to question the effectiveness of it whilst looking at the big picture.

Firstly, there still needs to be more research conducted in this field. Most research in this area has started in the 21^st century, and it is important to know if a psychological treatment is effective longitudinally. This means that there needs to be research done to help substantiate music therapy’s effectiveness over a long time period across the same patients. With longitudinal studies, other useful research methods also need to be tried. Method triangulation, the process of using a variety of research methods (from lab experiments to interviews and observations), can help point to a similar conclusion.

It’s important to be wary about how much trust is given to a relatively young mode of therapy

Lastly, generalisability is crucial. To conclude that music therapy is undoubtedly effective, research needs to be conducted across the globe to avoid a Eurocentric view.

In addition, it’s important to be wary about how much trust is given to a relatively young mode of therapy. It may not always be effective because not every individual would resonate with music at the same level. Music therapy should also ideally be administered with other forms of therapy and psychological treatment if cases are severe. For example, if oral medication is required, music therapy should not supersede this. Despite the exciting avenues the future of music therapy holds, ethical compromises need to be avoided, and caution must be taken.

Music therapy is surely an exciting and innovative tool to administer psychotherapy. With the research done thus far, it is an avenue brimming with potential and versatility. However, to be able to work at a large scale, more research needs to be done for it to be generalisable at a considerable scope and for it to make yet more indelible strides in recovery.