Music Therapy: Can Music Really Heal and Help People?
Abstract
The paper addresses music therapy’s impact on mental health and proposes the categories of active and receptive methods to analyze uses of music therapy to treat mental illness. In active music therapy, the client is involved in creating or playing music themselves. Receptive music therapy involves listening to music for relaxation or enhancing mood. First, the paper explores the history and definitions of music therapy and explains the methods and applications of music therapy. Second, the paper addresses how these methods and applications of music therapy can be an effective treatment component for mental illnesses most widely discussed in the literature about music therapy, including depression, anxiety, schizophrenia, Autism, PTSD (Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder), trauma, and stress.
