Psychiatry stems from a branch of medicine that is dedicated to the diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of psychological, mental, and emotional disorders or illnesses. With its foundation of psychology, the study of the mind and its behaviors in certain scenarios or situations, psychiatry specializes in mental health and even substance abuse disorders. A psychiatrist is a medical doctor (M.D. or D.O) that can assess the diagnosis of a clinical psychologist and directly treat the illness by prescribing medication, psychotherapy, and other medical treatments. Thus, improving the overall function, and social lifestyle of the patient. Being a psychiatrist requires searching for new methods in order to guide patients out of their chronic illnesses …show more content…
Therefore, I will implement music into my profession as an alternative method of treatment to medicinal prescriptions for psychiatric patients. The program would be using music to improve patients’ symptoms, uplift their mood during therapy, and as a means of self-expression. This program is multi-faceted and would be tailored to each patient’s specific illness. In between sessions, the patient will have a portable music player, or iPod, containing a list of uplifting1, recognizable songs from their decade that their families’ or themselves have already preselected. The patient can choose to listen to a song the later half of the session and after, debrief their thoughts and feelings. I would record and track the progress of each patient after debriefing to see how their motivational levels and overall mood have changed. Although this method can apply to a variety of patients from those diagnosed with unipolar or major depression to Alzheimer’s and dementia, some cases of phobias, and compulsive disorders require another method of treatment from the