Therapy Through Song-Writing
As music varies around the world so does a cultures use of the songs and lyrics created. Songwriters may quickly scribble words down on a piece of paper or have a melody running in their head, with the anticipation that those sounds and words will turn into lyrics for a song. A song or melody may spark both positive and negative feelings in each person’s life, especially by the author. Music is used for countless activities (ceremonies, celebrations), therefore the ideas discussed in this paper focus on whether the song writing process acts as a therapy outlet. Accordingly, the goal is to examine one musician’s ideas about song writing and review literature on how song writing is currently used in music therapy.
Musicians have claimed song writing is their therapy. By it’s very nature, the process of song writing can be both freeing and emotionally challenging on a writer. Song “text often provides an early experience of how to symbolically represent the world, and of how we can use metaphors to understand the meaning of what is happening to us” (Baker et al. 9). Lyrics articulate the values and beliefs of people, which weave their way into the lives of others. In the midst of song writing, an important phenomenon is taking place: the writer is communicating and sharing their thoughts in an intimate way, much like how psychological counseling is seen and used today.
To understand a musician’s work, one might need to understand their personal journey. While delving into the effects of musical therapy, I had a chance to interview Matt Jennings a songwriter/musician who plays piano in a worship band at Bear Creek Community Church in Merced, California. On Saturday, February 19, I sat down with Matt ...
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... provide a natural musical medium for the therapeutic process” (Wigram 264). Song writing through music is able to reflect the state of the human soul in ways that words along cannot.
Works Cited
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“I think music in itself is healing. It's an explosive expression of humanity. It's something we are all touched by. No matter what culture we're from, everyone loves music” (Billy Joel). Although most listeners may not have the same technical experience in music as Billy Joel, it is easy enough to see the effect it has in a person's every day life. Music has the ability to pick us up when we are down, carry you back in time to a cherished memory, and transform silence into a symphony that can move one to tears. Music therapy is simply an application of the life that music creates.
For many of us, one of the most accurate and effective ways to express the feelings that really matter to us is through music. We don’t only grow to attached to songs that are catchy, but also those with lyrics that we can relate to. It is not uncommon to feel like sometimes, artists can convey the way we feel better than we could ourselves. The storybook-like lines you read at the start of this page are a collection of lyrics
In 1995, Ballard and Coates reported that “neither the lyrical content nor the music type affected suicidal ideation, anxiety, or self-esteem” (Journal Of Humanistic Counseling, Education & Development 1) Music itself has been used as a form of therapy in of residential and adult day care centers it’s been reported that music had been the cause of elevated or depressed moods. This suggests that music is an effective technique in therapeutic interventions and should be incorporated more thoroughly in medical and psychiatric practices. Experimental studies conducted by Prickett in 1988 have documented the effects of music on individuals as they interact with the environment. Participants of the study were reported to have shown increases in their expression of feelings, awareness, and socialization. Furthermore, music may also be able to help individuals cope with pain and anxiety. In other studies the use of music made traditional psychotherapy more effective and led to a drop in the levels of depression for more individuals that using regular therapies
Music and songwriting date back centuries. Cultures, families, and religions have all used it as a way of expression and unity since the very beginning of time. Song writing in particular has become one of the most popular ways for society to express their thoughts and views of the caucus around us all. Music is a common language that we’ve all learned to speak and appreciate, and it is one way for us to stay connected as people. Larry Suess, in his article “Music Therapy and Song Writing” describes music therapy as an aid to expression and management of emotions that can contribute to the healing process.
B., Gfeller, K. E., & Thaut, M. H. (2008). An Introduction to Music Therapy: Theory and
Music therapy may also be experienced from more of a “listening” perspective, where a person suffering from depression listens to a particular piece of music and pays focus to any feelings, emotions, and images that emerge as a result. Using this as a basis, in 1970 an American music therapist by the name of Helen Bonny created what is known today as Guided Imagery and Music therapy (GIM) (Chou & Lin, 2006). GIM consists of the patient listening to therapeutic and calming music, eventually reaching a state of mental and physical relaxation (Chou & Lin, 2006). Once a patient is in this state, and with the help of the therapist, an individual explores images and feelings that arise in their mind as a result of listening to this music (Chou & Lin, 2006). This remains to be of particular importance as those suffering from depression often feel a lack of connection with one’s self and one’s feelings. Subsequently, the individual and the therapist work together discussing the images and feelings that the patient experienced, exploring the figurative meaning and themes and how they connect to the patient’s issues and everyday life (Chou & Lin, 2006). Such communication and exploration often allows for those afflicted with depression to express negative emotions more easily and bridge the gap between their internal state and expressing that state outwardly in a verbal manner (Chou & Lin, 2006), something that exclusive talk therapy at times struggles with. Mei-Hsien Chou, an instructor at I-Shou University in the Department of Nursing; and Mei-Feng Lin, who holds a PhD and is an assistant professor in the School of Nursing at National Cheng Kung University conducted a study featuring five subjects who suffer from depression and the use of GIM on their overall mood, quality of life, and personal experience. While the study is limited in terms of subject
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