The cutting edge: Personal transformation with music

Journal/Book: Music Therapy. 1988; 7: 38-50.

Abstract: Examines the author's lifelong experiences with music that led to his study of the psychological implications of music and its effects on the mind and body. Thoughts about the future of music, therapy, and education are discussed in context of past experiences. The author indicates a need for (1) music to be seen more clearly by the public as a tool for stress reduction, centering, and emotional release; (2) exploring the uses of music as therapy for strengthening the immune system with psychoimmunological techniques and guided imagery; and (3) musicians and biologists to research the effects of direct frequency upon the body, ear and brain. The roles of music as a catalyst in improving human relations and as a bridge to peace are also considered. Summarizes research that demonstrates the use of music in the alleviation of physically and emotionally generated human illnesses. Music therapy (MT) is defined and the healing properties of music delineated. A review of physiological and therapeutic responses to music is followed by various opinions as to which types of music are most appropriate for MT procedures. It is argued that traditional Western medicine has not seriously considered music as a healing medium, but the ascendance of holistic medicine is creating a change in the attitude held by practitioners and the public to a position of greater acceptance of MT as a healing mode.

Note: role of music in biopsychosocial adjustment music therapy as healing mode

Keyword(s): Music ; adjustment; Music therapy

Zurück | Weiter