The effectiveness of music therapy essay

Music therapy is something that I have heard of that uses music listening or composing as a therapeutic method . I know little about it, which is why I want to research it. Music has been a big part of my life; Vive played some kind of instrument since elementary school and it serves as a creative outlet. It has helped me let go of stress from time to time, which has made me curious as to how it is used for therapy. My main question is more general: how effective is music therapy .

I have found a few articles that have mentioned schizophrenia more specifically, so I might delve into that more. I want to know how music therapy is defined, who it can help, when it can be used and who for, and why do people choose this method, if they’re allowed to. That led me to a book that was about music and emotions, which seems to talk about how music directly and indirectly affects emotions.

Maybe something like calm or happiness has been shown in some patients and that evidence is why others have chosen it. I also want to explore the benefits of music therapy. This would be a worthwhile research project because lots of people these days seem to go to therapy, even if it is not for a mental illness. Maybe there are problems at home with family or a person is undergoing a financial struggle. I want to see if music therapy can help those kinds of people too. If it does, it can be effective for anyone who might need some sort of help, as well as in a fun and enjoyable way. So far I have found several book sources and Journal articles that might help me conduct this research.

“ Defining Music Therapy’ is a book that will help me with the more technical things, such as defining music therapy itself, a working definition, and maybe describing a process. “ The Social Psychology of Music” has information on sing music therapy individually and in a group, some history on when it emerged as a profession, and has a section that compares music therapy to other treatments.