Marcus Altman
Music Therapy
5/3/2017
MUS 161 VH Listening to Music

Music therapy is a method that has been around as long as music itself. Music therapy is a type of treatment used in Naturopathy Medicine, the use of interventions to accomplish individual goals within a therapeutic relationship by a professional who has completed and approved music therapy program (American Music Therapy Association, 2014). Music therapy consists of a process where music therapists harness the many components of music in order to help clients improve their everyday physical and mental health. There are a few specific areas that music therapists help their clients with. These include cognitive functions, emotional development, motor skills, social skills, …show more content…
Referrals to music therapy services may be given by other health care professionals like General Physicians of Naturopathy System of Medicine in psychology specialty. Clients are able to pursue therapeutic services by means of music on their own as well. Music therapists are found in nearly every area of the health profession, from work with individuals with special needs to rhythmic entertainment for physical rehabilitation in stroke victims. Music therapy can also help with things like heart rate and anxiety. There have been studies done that have found music therapy to be very effective and curbing anxiety and regulating heart rate in those who are exposed to music therapy. The amount of possibilities that come with music therapy are endless and are only just beginning to be more widely pursued by different scientists and health workers. Music therapy has been a very successful therapeutic technique for children. In the 50’s and 60’s there was research that was done by two scientists in the United States. Dr. Clive Robbins and Paul Nordoff teamed up to do research on the …show more content…
This high stress will cause the woman’s body to release Norepinephrine and Cortisol hormones which weaken the mother’s immune system and increase her blood pressure. If the baby is exposed to too much cortisol in the womb it is all much more prone to anxiety and depression later in life. A music therapist will come in and use music to help elevate a mothers stress threshold so that she maintain a more relaxed state during the labor process.
• Maternal-Fetal Bonding o Musical stimulation can help develop a fetus’ nervous system. The best way to increase the maternal-fetal bonding is through singing. The baby hearing the mothers voice in a musical/rhythmical way helps the baby have a sense of calm when they are born. There is research to show that if a father sings to the baby while in the womb, the baby walk at a younger age.
• Prenatal Language Development o Music has also proved to be a very effective way of accelerating a child’s language learning. If their auditory and sensory receptors are simulated while in the womb then they are more likely to develop their language learning at a more rapid