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The Negative Values Of Music Therapy

Decent Essays

Music is present in everyday life, in many different forms, yet people are oblivious to its various therapeutic values. Patients with different illnesses may use music therapy “to improve the extremity of their mood swings and ultimately, their way of life” (Grocke). Individuals with mental illnesses, for instance, have hardships that they face daily, which could be solved with music therapy. Music therapy is a resourceful option with the creative art therapies for enhancing quality of life in people with severe and enduring mental illness. What is music therapy? Music therapy is “the skillful use of music and musical elements by an accredited music therapist to promote, maintain, and restore mental, physical, emotional, and spiritual health” (Ulbricht). Since the beginning of time, music therapy has been documented in many different ways. In the Old Testament of the Bible, David was found comforting Saul with his harp while both Plato and Aristotle wrote about the virtues of music to calm and soothe, as well as for stimulation and motivation of the body. On the contrary, music therapy did not become a professional discipline in the United States until the 1940s. Today in the early 21st century, it has broadened even further and has been used in diverse areas of medicine, such as cancer and pain control for surgical patients. Even with countless experiments and evidence, however, there are plenty of people who are still suspicious of the therapeutic benefits of music and

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