Music is the best studied of art therapy, and helps to lower anxiety, depression, trauma, psychosis and stress. Important components of music therapy are the meaning of lyrics, improvisational music playing, active listening, and songwriting.
But it’s not just in psychotherapy.
While many of us cringe at the horrors of “elevator music” or the awful music we hear waiting on the phone after all the prompts, music has been shown to have a soothing effect.
For example, it is frequently used in dentist’s offices and in operating rooms. Music has also been shown to reduce pain, and even have a positive effect on symptoms of stroke and dementia. And for patients with Alzheimer’s disease, its benefits may well be that singing and listening to music improves mood, helps retrieve old memories, and could even improve general thought processes.
Music therapy is an ancient and yet very modern practice that has the power to heal and transform our brains and bodies in significant ways. Kathleen Howland, speech language and music therapist explains how music really does have the power to heal our brain and heart. Themed Changing Currents, TEDxBerkleeValencia welcomes leading international innovators, entrepreneurs, creative business people, and artists from diverse countries representing music, fashion and design, the environment, technology and religion. The second edition of TEDxBerkleeValencia, which took place at L’Oceanogràfic, the largest aquarium in Europe, addressed several notions of change - paradigm shifts; movement, both physical and societal; and new tendencies across multiple disciplines. TEDxBerkleeValencia website: http://tedxberkleevalencia.com/
Kathleen M. Howland is a certified music therapist and licensed speech language pathologist. For the past 30+ years, she has worked with a variety of clinical populations using music to enhance speech, language, cognition and movement in habilitation and rehabilitation settings. Her doctoral studies in music and cognition have informed and supported her interest in bridging the communities of science and art in order to identify best practices. She teaches undergraduate and graduate courses at Berklee College of Music and the Boston Conservatory in music therapy, neuroscience and positive psychology. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at http://ted.com/tedx