What is Music Therapy and Sound Therapy?

Music therapists work in a variety of settings including halfway houses, hospice programs, medical hospitals, nursing homes, private practice, psychiatric hospitals, rehabilitative facilities, schools, wellness programs, etc. An introduction to music therapy can systematically address addictive/dependency disorders, brain injury, emotional intimacy, music assisted childbirth, neurological impairments, pain management, physical limitations, reality orientation, self awareness, self expression, speech and hearing impairments, stress reduction, etc. Music therapists use music to assess cognitive skills, communication abilities, emotional well-being, motor skills, physical health, social development, and spiritual enhancement through musical responses. Interventions may include active music making, music improvisation, drumming, receptive music listening, song writing, lyric discussion, music and imagery, music performance, and learning through music. 

 Music is processed by the emotions, through mental imagery, intuitively, analytically, and physically. Music is immediate, always changing and moving, encouraging the listener to be present and mindful of what is taking place. By listening and responding to these energy patterns a person gains insight into one’s own energy patterns. The main priority in music therapy is to address the individual’s needs and problems through music, not to promote or perpetuate music as an art form for its own sake. Within music therapy, the behaviours of primary interest are those that have a significant effect on the person’s adaptation, education, or development. Music in this context is used to increase, decrease, modify, or reinforce carefully defined target behaviours.

Researchers at Beth Israel Medical Center's Louis Armstrong Center for Music and Medicine conducted the study, which included 272 premature babies 32 weeks gestation or older in 11 mid-Atlantic NICUs. They examined the effects of three types of music: a lullaby selected and sung by the baby's parents; an "ocean disc," a round instrument, invented by the Remo drum company, that mimics the sounds of the womb; and a gato box, a drum-like instrument used to simulate two-tone heartbeat rhythms. The two instruments were played live by certified music therapists, who matched their music to the babies' breathing and heart rhythms.

The researchers found that the gato box, the Remo ocean disc and singing all slowed a baby's heart rate, although singing was the most effective. Singing also increased the amount of time babies stayed quietly alert, and sucking behavior improved most with the gato box, while the ocean disc enhanced sleep. The music therapy also lowered the parents' stress.

The healing power of vibration

At its core, music is sound, and sound is rooted in vibration. Led by Lee Bartel, PhD, a music professor at the University of Toronto, several researchers are exploring whether sound vibrations absorbed through the body can help ease the symptoms of Parkinson's disease, fibromyalgia and depression. Known as vibroacoustic therapy, the intervention involves using low frequency sound — similar to a low rumble — to produce vibrations that are applied directly to the body. During vibroacoustic therapy, the patient lies on a mat or bed or sits in a chair embedded with speakers that transmit vibrations at specific computer-generated frequencies that can be heard and felt, says Bartel. He likens the process to sitting on a subwoofer.

In 2009, researchers led by Lauren K. King of the Sun Life Financial Movement Disorders Research and Rehabilitation Centre at Wilfrid Laurier University, in Waterloo, Ontario, found that short-term use of vibroacoustic therapy with Parkinson's disease patients led to improvements in symptoms, including less rigidity and better walking speed with bigger steps and reduced tremors (NeuroRehabilitation, December, 2009). In that study, the scientists exposed 40 Parkinson's disease patients to low-frequency 30-hertz vibration for one minute, followed by a one-minute break. They then alternated the two for a total of 10 minutes. The researchers are now planning a long-term study of the use of vibroacoustic therapy with Parkinson's patients, as part of a new partnership with the University of Toronto's Music and Health Research Collaboratory, which brings together scientists from around the world who are studying music's effect on health.

The group is also examining something called thalmocortical dysrhythmia — a disorientation of rhythmic brain activity involving the thalamus and the outer cortex that appears to play a role in several medical conditions including Parkinson's, fibromyalgia and possibly even Alzheimer's disease, says Bartel, who directs the collaboratory.

"Since the rhythmic pulses of music can drive and stabilize this disorientation, we believe that low-frequency sound might help with these conditions," Bartel says. He is leading a study using vibroacoustic therapy with patients with mild Alzheimer's disease. The hope is that using the therapy to restore normal communication among brain regions may allow for greater memory retrieval, he says.

"We've already seen glimmers of hope in a case study with a patient who had just been diagnosed with the disorder," Bartel says. "After stimulating her with 40-hertz sound for 30 minutes three times a week for four weeks, she could recall the names of her grandchildren more easily, and her husband reported good improvement in her condition."

The goal of all of this work is to develop "dosable" and "prescribable" music therapy and music as medicine protocols that serve specific neurologic functions and attend to deficits that may result from many of these neurologically based conditions. Rather than viewing music only as a cultural phenomenon, Bartel says, the art should be seen as a vibratory stimulus that has cognitive and memory dimensions.

"Only when we look at it in this way do we start to see the interface to how the brain and body work together."

Information from the American Psychological Association.

Music Therapy is a form of therapy is process-based and relies heavily on the therapist’s knowledge of music’s structure, rhythm and melody to influence, motivate or effect physical, emotional, or social changes in a person.

With Sound Therapy - Sound Healing, as with music therapy, both can use instruments or the voice to impact a client’s wellbeing; both can engage the client in music making.

The differences between music therapy and sound healing are subtle but distinct: The intent of sound healing is to facilitate and direct specific sounds, and their resulting vibrations, to impact well being.

Here is what Jonathan Goldman, a pioneer in sound healing, had to say about his work:

“… the basic principle of sound healing is that everything is in a state of vibration, including our organs, bones, tissues, etc. If these parts of the body become imbalanced they may be healed through projecting the proper and correct frequencies back into the body. This works for imbalances and over- or under-activity in the chakras and the energy fields.”
So, to summarise, both forms of therapy use music as a basis for impacting clients’ well being. Music therapy bases its protocols on what is known about music’s structure and rhythm to actively engage a client in music making for the purpose of addressing a specific health outcome.

Similarly, sound therapies use music to guide healing, but protocols are not based solely on the process of music listening or creation, but rather on finding and producing specific frequencies, which may be unique to the individual, that then can be directed internally to facilitate healing.

The human voice is a very powerful instrument. Our voice provides clues of our well-being and emotional state. 

"We arrive on this planet with every thing that we need to heal ourselves, and when we came; our voices were rich with all the necessary frequencies to maintain us in a healthy state of resonance. Due to the conditioning of childhood and the suppression of our true thoughts and feelings and the accompanying sounds that go with them, by the time we arrive at adulthood our speaking voice no longer contains the same frequencies it did as a child. Our voice will always reflect our current mental and emotional states of being. When a person feels alive, healthy, happy and abundant, their voice sounds much different than if they are depressed, unhappy, angry or afraid. You may notice a difference in your own voice when speaking your truth compared to when you are not, it feels different in your body as well, and from an energetic standpoint the cells of your body are not getting the frequencies they need to stay healthy."  The Healing Voice

Sound therapy
Sound therapists believe that our bodies contain 'energy frequencies' and that sonic frequencies can be used to re-attune these energies when they go off key. All you have to do is lie down and bask in the tuneful beauty of 'pure' sound.
We are all made up of different energy frequencies. They use sound frequencies to interact with these, thus attempting to rebalance the body's energy.

Before each session, the practitioner will ask the client about their medical history and any current health problems. The practitioner will then adapt their treatment accordingly, using relaxing or stimulating sounds to try to rebalance the body - gongs, drums, bells, bowls, tuning forks and the human voice are all used. According to practitioner Lyz Cooper: "Clients are wrapped up in [these sounds] like a cocoon, and allowed to go on a journey."

A recent study conducted by the British Academy of Sound Therapy (BAST) found that

95% of clients suffering from stress-related disorders felt an increased state of calm following treatment (though of course, this can hardly be called unbiased research!)
Another preliminary study conducted by BAST measured the effects of sound therapy on the autonomous nervous system (ANS). Clients were connected to a machine that monitored stress responses (much like a lie detector).

Each client demonstrated an overall decrease in arousal of the ANS compared to the control group, who were lying down relaxing. This study suggests that sound therapy has a deeply calming effect on stressed-out clients.

Sound has been used as a healing or calming tool for thousands of years. Himalayan singing bowls (standing bells that "sing") have been used throughout Asia for thousands of years in prayer and meditation, and are now used to promote relaxation and wellbeing. Sound therapy was formally introduced to the UK in 2000 with the establishment of BAST (The British Academy of Sound Therapy and Soundworks.). Sound therapy is a complementary medicine designed to work alongside orthodox medicine. BAST attempts to treat individuals with fertility issues, chronic pain, cancer, stress-related illnesses, IBS, ME, tinnitus, mild depression, anxiety and arthritis. BAST founder Lyz Cooper believes: "Whether you come for a regular tune-up or relaxation session, or have a chronic long-term illness, sound could help you to enjoy a better quality of life."

Sound therapy is said to help not only physical illness, but also help balance the emotions and quieten a busy mind. Most people feel calm and relaxed following treatment. For some, this feeling will last several days. You may also be given exercises to practise between treatments.

Contra-indications
Pregnant women are not advised to undertake sound therapy and anyone with serious mental health problems should consult their doctor before receiving treatment.

New directions in Sound Healing - Biofield Tuning Sound Balancing
Biofield Tuning is a unique non-medical therapeutic method that uses sound waves produced by tuning forks in the bio-magnetic field, or biofield, that surrounds the human body. Biofield Tuning was developed by pioneering researcher and practitioner Eileen Day McKusick and is based on her 20 years of clinical inquiry into the Biofield Anatomy. It is a simple, non-invasive, and efficient method that can produce profound and powerful outcomes.