If music be a therapeutic means play on, play on
The famous phrase ‘where words fail music speaks’ by Hans Christian Anderson captures the therapeutic essence of music therapy – an emerging creative arts therapy in Sri Lanka.
Music sessions and music therapy sessions differ in purpose, technique and overall approach. The way someone plays a musical instrument for a performance, or the methods by which a music class is taught is different to what music therapy is. Music therapy sessions are facilitated by a trained professional who has a specific music therapy qualification.
Therapeutic music need not always be the classics, calm or slow; what makes the music therapeutic is the client and their power of choice. Therefore, jazz, rap, country, rock, folk and even heavy metal are all therapeutic within a therapy session with appropriate application.
Music therapy helps achieve non-musical goals through musical means. It supports the development of cognitive, communicational, emotional, behavioural and social skills. It is for everyone regardless of age or ability and can be implemented in educational settings, hospitals, rehabilitation settings, palliative care or mental health settings, prisons, the corporate sector and in therapy centres. Music therapy utilises the expertise of community music therapists, paediatric/geriatric music therapists, neurologic music therapists, hospice and palliative care music therapists according to their relevant forte.
It can enhance the health of neonates, children and youth in schools, individuals with special needs, those undergoing trauma or bereavement, physical, mental health or addiction rehabilitation, cancer sufferers or those with stress, anxiety or depression, living with chronic pain, dementia, Parkinson’s disease, schizophrenia and even homeless people.
Music therapy employs a person-centred approach focusing on the strengths and abilities of the person first rather than their disability. The unique attributes of each client are acknowledged and valued with extreme care. The need to be heard, to express and to make choices are all facilitated through music therapy. Even for those with limited communication skills, music therapy provides non-verbal means to connect with others in a safe therapeutic space.
There is a burgeoning need to promote music therapy as a profession in Sri Lanka. The journey through which a client transforms from not being able to cope with an existing trauma, a recurring stressor, suicide ideation or behavioural and emotional challenges to being able to find solace through music therapy is truly fascinating.
When clients engage in song writing, creating parodies and musical improvisations the eloquence of those creations is profoundly therapeutic. Simply playing music with a client is not enough. Understanding the psychological, physiological and sociological aspects within the context of therapy is vital to making a music therapy session truly therapeutic.
Music is one of the few mediums competent in stimulating multiple areas of the brain simultaneously. Even at reduced levels of consciousness, music is perceived by the human brain. Emerging research in the area of neuroplasticity and music therapy opens avenues to holistic approaches of healing in extraordinary ways.
Having qualified music therapists in Sri Lanka and promoting the profession can make mental health supports widely accessible within the community. Implementing music therapy across mental health, medicine, early intervention, child and elder care, and education facilities of Sri Lanka can help improve the overall well-being of the population.
(The writer is a music therapist)
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