Music therapy treats many different conditions. The reason for this is that music is versatile. You can do therapy around listening and making music; each interaction with music works with different parts of the brain.
Likewise, people say that music is universal and that it speaks to people as a new form of treatment for addiction, ADHD, depression, and neurofeedback. This treatment integrates images and sounds to train the brain to act in a desired way. Music therapy falls under our experiential therapy program.
How Does Music Therapy Work
Music can help people to identify and process their emotions. Often people use substances to escape inner negativity and emotion that they never learned to deal with. Also, a music therapist can expose a patient to music that allows the patient to feel an emotion or some emotions, and then the therapist and the patient can sort through them.
Additionally, it is helpful to have this mode of recall in the therapy session; otherwise, the patient may not remember emotions they had earlier in the day or the week that caused them to have a craving or act out in some manner. Music can break people free from their standard thought patterns and bring them to an emotional state to help them.
Also, a music therapy program can help to increase self-esteem through self-expression and self-awareness. The act of creating music on your own or with others can be very therapeutic. The act of creating music gives you an outlet for emotions you may not be familiar dealing with. This, in turn, allows a person to safely explore and learn about themselves and share themselves with others in a way that they have not in the past.
In fact, drum circles are great therapy for this. Then, you are connected to the other players in the ring, and you all add your own markings to the collective sound. Afterward, everyone can have a chat about what they heard and felt, a music therapy program could use this as a form of group therapy.
How Can Music Therapy Help?
In short, music therapy helps with stress and allows people to relax. This is really self-explanatory, just ask yourself how you feel after listening to your favorite song, or some relaxing angelic sounding music. Also, the other piece to this is that music creation can be relaxing when you are using it as an outlet for your stress and emotions.
For example, music helps with:
- Emotion identification and emotion processing
- Emotional recall and increasing self-esteem
- Allow self-expression and increase self-awareness
- Reduce stress
- Allow for relaxation
- How to use music in recovery
In summary, during your experiential therapy program, your certified therapist will create and work on treatments with you. Remember, you can add music therapy to your staying sober toolbox too! So pull out that journal and start writing a song. Turn the radio up and sing your favorites at the top of your lungs. If it has been recommended that you use meditation therapy but can’t, do it with music to start. If you are stuck inside your head, and you can turn on some tunes, it will help to pull yourself out of the funk you are settling into.
Also, sometimes all we need to do to stop ourselves from using is a good song; just like a good friend, a good song is always there. For example, musical things you can do to help your own recovery are:
- Write a Song
- Sing!
- Meditate With Music
- Make Playlists For Different Moods
- Play or Listen to Music With Others
Finding Musical Therapy Program
In conclusion, music therapy programs are not widespread yet. Steps to Recovery offers access to trained music therapists that can help you on your way to recovery. In fact, call 267.719.8528 to find out more about our addiction rehabilitation programs today!