Argumentative Essay On Music Therapy
Quadasia West-Lee
English 132
Prof C Johnson
Argumentative Essay
Healing Power of Music Music Therapy is an established health care profession which uses evidence based music interventions for physical, emotional, cognitive, social, and spiritual rehabilitation. Several unique approaches are used to reach individually set goals of many different types of patients as well as healthy individuals. Music Therapy can be helpful in many situations including alleviating pain, counteracting depression and fear, promoting movement, inducing sleep, reducing stress and tension, reducing pain during labor and delivery in pregnant women, stimulating senses, supporting physical exercise, overcoming substance abuse, strengthening communication and coordination …show more content…
Patients who suffer from Alzheimer’s, dementia, or aphasia benefit the most from the use of Music Therapy than other types of rehabilitation. Oliver Sacks, professor of neurology and psychiatry at Colombia University Medical Center, believes the “power of music is remarkable” and that “music therapists are crucial and indispensable in institutions for elderly people” (Musictherapy.org). The idea of music as a therapeutic instrument has been present since at least the time of Plato and Aristotle, who had considered the role of music for individual health, state health, and also that of society. In the United States, “modern” Music Therapy first came to be accepted as a …show more content…
In certain cases, patients with musical ability prior to their Alzheimer’s cannot recognize their family members but are still able to read music and play their favorite songs on the piano (Sacks, “Musicophilia” 222). In these cases, their musical abilities are the only thing tying them to the world, and since “musical abilities are often among the last to be lost, even with widespread brain damage” (Sacks, “When Music Heals”), this does help their rehabilitation, but it is not necessary in order to reap the benefits of Music Therapy. Every human being has the innate ability to make and to appreciate music on their own level; Music Therapy sessions are designed to take advantage of this basic appreciation for expression, which does not require any training or talent. These basic capabilities include singing, playing simple instruments, perceiving relationships between sounds, remembering and imagining music, and assigning meaning to a musical experience (Bruscia). Many people think there is one form of music that produces better results than any another; in fact, each case is dependent upon the patient’s personal taste in music. The best results tend to come from music familiar to the patient or something that was popular during their childhood. If proper steps are not taken in the development
English 132
Prof C Johnson
Argumentative Essay
Healing Power of Music Music Therapy is an established health care profession which uses evidence based music interventions for physical, emotional, cognitive, social, and spiritual rehabilitation. Several unique approaches are used to reach individually set goals of many different types of patients as well as healthy individuals. Music Therapy can be helpful in many situations including alleviating pain, counteracting depression and fear, promoting movement, inducing sleep, reducing stress and tension, reducing pain during labor and delivery in pregnant women, stimulating senses, supporting physical exercise, overcoming substance abuse, strengthening communication and coordination …show more content…
Patients who suffer from Alzheimer’s, dementia, or aphasia benefit the most from the use of Music Therapy than other types of rehabilitation. Oliver Sacks, professor of neurology and psychiatry at Colombia University Medical Center, believes the “power of music is remarkable” and that “music therapists are crucial and indispensable in institutions for elderly people” (Musictherapy.org). The idea of music as a therapeutic instrument has been present since at least the time of Plato and Aristotle, who had considered the role of music for individual health, state health, and also that of society. In the United States, “modern” Music Therapy first came to be accepted as a …show more content…
In certain cases, patients with musical ability prior to their Alzheimer’s cannot recognize their family members but are still able to read music and play their favorite songs on the piano (Sacks, “Musicophilia” 222). In these cases, their musical abilities are the only thing tying them to the world, and since “musical abilities are often among the last to be lost, even with widespread brain damage” (Sacks, “When Music Heals”), this does help their rehabilitation, but it is not necessary in order to reap the benefits of Music Therapy. Every human being has the innate ability to make and to appreciate music on their own level; Music Therapy sessions are designed to take advantage of this basic appreciation for expression, which does not require any training or talent. These basic capabilities include singing, playing simple instruments, perceiving relationships between sounds, remembering and imagining music, and assigning meaning to a musical experience (Bruscia). Many people think there is one form of music that produces better results than any another; in fact, each case is dependent upon the patient’s personal taste in music. The best results tend to come from music familiar to the patient or something that was popular during their childhood. If proper steps are not taken in the development