Music therapy is a kind of therapy in which music is used for the sole purpose of achieving certain positive changes in the well-being and happiness of a certain person. It does not matter how the music is used, as long as there are positive changes in the patient's mood. In this way, music therapy can consist of listening to certain songs or melodies or singing or composing.
What is completely clear is that there are many benefits it has for health, which is why it is a really effective and quite popular therapy. In the following article we will talk to you in a more detailed way about music therapy and of its health benefits.
What is music therapy for?
It is a kind of therapy that uses music with the aim of improving physical and mental health of people. In the case of children, music therapy helps them improve their social relationships and communication level, allowing great development at a global level. As it is a sensory experience for all the senses, music therapy can treat a multitude of disorders such as the following:
- emotional disorders This type of therapy helps people learn to manage different emotions and thus achieve great well-being and happiness.
- Sleep disorders. The use of music is perfect when it comes to getting people with sleep problems to rest optimally and relax in the face of certain day-to-day problems.
- Autism spectrum disorders. Music therapy is quite effective in treating people with autism. This kind of therapy helps such people improve in their social relationships and when it comes to communicating with others.
- Disorders due to stress and anxiety. It has been proven that music therapy is effective when treating people with high levels of stress and anxiety.
What are the benefits of music therapy?
Music therapy provides a series of truly noteworthy and remarkable health benefits:
- Helps reduce high levels of stress and anxiety.
- Helps improve sleep reconciliation and to sleep much better.
- Alleviate the pain and reduces the need to take pain-reducing drugs.
- It helps improve concentration and memory of the person.
- Help certain people to improve in their relationships with others.
- Strengthens self-esteem and self-confidence.
- Improves quality of life in patients suffering from chronic diseases such as cancer.
- It is used as an effective tool when it comes to stimulating the motor apparatus and to allow the physical rehabilitation of the person.
Music therapy classes or types
Music therapy is designed to be applied to people of all ages and problems. From there, the professional will apply music therapy that best suits the field or area that you want to work. Then we are going to talk about the different types of music therapy that exist and the characteristics of each of them:
active music therapy
In this kind of music therapy the patient will actively participate in the elaboration and creation of music. In this way the person can sing, dance or play a musical instrument. The purpose of this kind of therapy is to ensure that the patient is able to freely express their emotions and feelings and increase their self-esteem as well as their confidence and well-being on an emotional level.
receptive music therapy
In this type of music therapy, the professional chooses a type of music In order to get the patient to relax and calm down, leaving aside certain thoughts that are not beneficial for the person. Receptive music therapy is perfect when treating certain disorders related to stress or anxiety.
cognitive music therapy
This kind of music therapy is aimed at improving the patient's memory and concentration. For this, certain exercises related to listening to music are carried out. The patient manages to maintain attention and concentrates on what he is listening to.
social music therapy
As its name suggests, this kind of music therapy focuses on improving the patient's social skills. The therapist seeks the improvisation of the person and creates music in a group to improve social relationships.
improvisational music therapy
The purpose of this type of music therapy is to create and elaborate spontaneous music between the therapist and the patient. This type of therapy allows you to explore your emotions in depth. and promote non-verbal communication.
recreational music therapy
Music is used as a means of entertainment to improve the patient's mood and socialization with other people. Will include activities Like dancing or karaoke.
reminiscence music therapy
In this case, music will be used in order to evoke certain memories and stimulate communication in people with cognitive disorders. A series of songs that are important to the patient are used in order to improve her mood and personal well-being.
Neurorehabilitation music therapy
This type of music therapy is used in people who suffer some type of brain or neurological injury with the aim of promoting their recovery. Music is used in order to stimulate different areas of the brain and improve the language or mobility of the patient.
In short, music therapy is really effective when it comes to treating mental or emotional disorders as in the case of depression or anxiety. It is a creative way to express different feelings and know how to manage emotions. Apart from this, it has another series of benefits, such as improving certain cognitive abilities of the person, such as memory or concentration.