Music therapy is a holistic discipline that makes use of the benefits of sounds, singing and music to intervene in an educational, rehabilitative and therapeutic manner. Let's find out better.
What is music therapy
Music therapy makes use of the benefits of sounds, singing and music for educational, rehabilitative and above all therapeutic interventions. Music is the communication channel that allows the patient to express his emotions in a non-verbal way, establishing a different relationship with the therapist.
Music therapy is found in the oldest human societies, in shamanic and religious cults, during which rhythm, song and dance led to states of trance, healing and communication with the extraterrestrial world. As a scientific discipline, music therapy asserts itself at the beginning of the 18th century. In 1700, the dott. Richard Brockiesby, London musician, writes the first treatise on the subject. Today, music therapy is recognized as a valid supportive therapeutic activity for specific psycho-motor disorders.
Benefits and contraindications
Our reactions to music are the result of how we lived in the womb for nine months. Often, however, the condition of illness leads the subject to close in on himself, refusing to communicate his feelings with the outside world. Sound, depending on the tone and speed, influences our brain differently, influencing the body's responses. Music therapy allows us to awaken our Sounding Self through non-verbal communication, succeeding in obtaining results that other disciplines, based on standard communication approaches, do not achieve.
There are some contraindications related to mental illness therapy. A wrong sound can have an opposite effect than the desired one, so the therapist must pay particular attention to the patient's history.
For whom music therapy is useful
Everyone likes music. It is relaxing, it allows the flow of thoughts and emotions in a genuine way and frees us from many tensions. There are specific disorders that can be treated through music therapy. Numerous studies have in fact witnessed the benefits of listening to sounds and music on people suffering from various mental illnesses such as depression, autism, Alzheimer's, psychosis and dyslexia. Music therapy is also aimed at individuals who suffer from anorexia and various motor disabilities. It is also recommended for the elderly and pregnant women.
The law in Italy and abroad
In Italy, there is a distinction between music therapist and music therapist : the latter is the performer, the technician, the one who implements the program decided by the music therapist, who is the figure with greater responsibility and a more consistent training period behind him. It is the music therapist who makes the diagnosis, decides the therapy and at the end of the treatment evaluates the results obtained with respect to the set goals. And only he therefore has the necessary skills to take the responsibility of digging into the past and removing blocks, interpreting, restoring, healing.
In Italy, the professional figure of the music therapist is not recognized by the State. One of the main music therapy associations, the FIM (Italian Federation of Music Therapists), organizes courses to train the professional figure of the music therapist. Also in Italy there are also masters and music therapy courses organized by universities and trade associations. The organism that represents music therapy at the international level is the WMFT, World Federation of Music Therapy, established in 1996.
Curiosities about music therapy
A study by the Education Department of the Pedagogy Faculty of the University of Maribor, Slovenia, confirmed the existence of the so-called "Mozart effect". Listening to the melodies of the famous composer greatly improves the mental performance of individuals. More and more scientific tests tend to prove this theory, which until recently was considered absurd.
Who is and what does the music therapist do?