Music therapy

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Definition

Music therapy is not a homogenous field. There are lots of different concepts of music therapy which focus on different aspects of how music may result in a client's well-being. Nevertheless the Kassel Theses developed by representatives of eight German music therapeutic associations constitute an effort of consensus about the essential characteristics of music therapy. These theses describe music therapy as psychotherapeutic by nature. They state that in a music therapeutic context music may become an exemplary object to help the patients improve their ability to perceive, experience, symbolize and relate with others. Reception, production and reproduction of music are supposed to trigger intra-psychic and interpersonal processes and therefore to have a diagnostic as well as therapeutic function. Music gives substance to individual experiences making it possible to include them into the therapeutic process. Accordingly, the World Federation of Music Therapy defines music therapy as „the use of music and/or its musical elements (sound, rhythm, melody and harmony) by a qualified music therapist, with a client or group, in a process designed to facilitate and promote communication, relationships , learning, mobilisation, expression, organisation and other relevant therapeutic objectives in order to meet physical, emotional, mental, social and cognitive needs“.

Forms of Music Therapy

Music can be applied functionallay, using just the direct effects of music - mostly on a person's autonomous nervous system - without the mediating therapeutic conversation. In contrast, in receptive as well as active music therapy, the effects of music are pointed out and amplified by the therapeutic conversation and the communicative function of music is mirrored by the development of a therapeutic relationship as is characteristic for psychotherapeutic interventions. Receptive music therapy involves listening to music, whereas active music therapy requires patients to reproduce or improvize music themselves. The therapist can accompany the patient's play to rassure or to provoke. The music thus produced is often taped so that patient and therapist can listen to the music afterwards and analyze it with respect to the therapeutic objectives. Moreover, it can be differentiated between individual and group therapy. The experience of being part of a group in a way that becomes audible in the concerted musical improvizations helps patients to acquire more refined perceptive, communicative and social skills.

Functional music

Even though it can much depend on subjective experiences what kind of assocations music excites and thus what kind of emotions it aroused, it is possible to specify qualities of music which predominantly cause certain autonomous responses of the body. This is how music can be described as either ergotropic or trophotropic. Ergotropic music leads to activation of the sympathetic part of the autonomous nervous system meaning that listening to it may result in increased blood pressure, accelerated respiration, higher incidence of muscular contractions, pupil dilatation, heightened cutaneous electrical resistance and excitation. Its characteristics are: rigid rhythms, accelerations, major key, dissonance and greater sound intensity. Tropotrophic music leads to activation of rather the parasympathetic part of the autonomous nervous system meaning the opposite reactions as described for ergotropic music. It therefore has a secative effect. Its characteristics are: floating, less accentuated rhythms, minor key, consonance and lower sound intensity.

Receptive Music therapy

Listening to music may lead to the arousal of emotions. These emotions mostly have their origin in past situations or are related to persons that we associate with this or just similar music. Associations, emotions and their connections can become the topic of a therapeutic conversation which helps to consolidate this form of self-experience, to work on it and get new insights and perspectives. Moreover music can have certain characteristics which correspond to traits of personality. For example songs in 2/4-time can be perceived as having a „down-to-earth“ character and thus correspond to the part of a person's personality which wants things to stay the same. In contrast, a song in 3/4-time has a rather elevating movement (think about the Vienna Waltz) and appeals more to an inventive and adventurous temper. According to the idea that no person has just one dominating trait of character but rather comprises all kinds of tempers some of them more dominating than others, listening to music may call forth new yet undiscovered sides to someone's personality which may consequently unclose a new way of coping. It may reestablish an equilibrium when a character trait has become so dominant that it causes a person's distress. In conclusion music in receptive therapy can be effective in both ways: It can function as a canvas or a mirror for the soul so that a person can discover his or her own qualities in it. Or the qualities of the music can be mirrored by a person who is moved (or altered) by listening to it.

Conditions of trance induced by sound

Trance can be defined as a state of consciousness with extremely restricted, focussed attention and reduced vigilance. Sound is used to focus attention which elevates the intensity but not the extent of perception. Monotonous sounds and rhythms such as produced by gongs or singing bowls are especially capable of inducing such states. The unfamiliar sound which is devoid of meaning and the monotony take away all points of reference. This supports a transformation of thinking, perceiving and experiencing, a hypersuggestible state.