by Ryan

We've all seen the cheezy music on the endcaps at the local Walmart.  Supposedly those CDs will calm you and, (more than likely), bore you into bliss. I can't get behind listening to those discs, even for their theraputic properties.  However after a bit of research, I've discovered that you won't have to listen to Yanni to activate the healing properties of music. There has been a general awarness of music's healing power since the time of Plato and Aristotle.  Music is an integral part of people's lives all over the world and is a universal language that has inherent abilities to stimulate the mind, body and emotions.  

During both World Wars, doctors and nurses used the beneficial properties of music on patients suffering physical and emotional traumas.  This led to the modern incarnation of the music therapy field.  Music therapy, according to the American Music Therapy Association (AMTA), is a well-established health profession similar to occupational therapy and physical therapy that uses music to address physical, psycological, cognitive, behavioral and social functioning. 

"Music therapy is used to bring about changes within an individual and bring about personal growth," said Dr Dellasega, professor of music therapy and coordinater of the Music Degree Program at Slippery Rock University.  She said music therapists work in a variety of settings, including physical rehabilitation centers, psychiatric facilities, prisons, nursing homes, school systems for special-needs students, and general hospitals.  Music therapy has been effectively used by professionals to treat people with myriad health problems ranging from physical disabilities, mental health disorders, chronic pain, cancer, substance abuse problems, AIDS, Alzheimer's disease, brain injuries, and learning disablitlies. 

The hope with integrated medicine is that the least invasive medical practices will be tried first. Since music therapy and other alternative therapies are non-invasive and non-pharmaceutical, they are very safe treatments for patients because no surgery is performed and no drugs are administered, which eliminates the possibility of negative side effects from drugs, Dellasega said.  Almost all Music therapists emphasize that music therapy is not just a passive listening technique, and works more effectively when using hands-on forms, such as making music, singing and composing.  The positive therapeutic attributes of music lie in the emotional and neurological aspects people have with music.  The associations we form with songs and music stay with us throughout life, and that plugs into the emotional responses we have.  The sounds, vibrations, and rhythms of music create a whole-brain and even a whole-body experience that is effective in treating neuralgic disorders as well as physical disorders.  Adding music helps stimulate the brain to be more active in sending electrical messages to the muscles and limbs in people with brain injuries and developmental disorders.  The physiological properties of music like sound, vibrations and rhythm activate the body, mind, and emotions.  Everybody has self-medicated with music at some time.