Music Therapy Benefits

Student Name: Mary Walsh

Student ID: R00110090

Module Name: Community Music/Music Therapy

Lecturer: Edel O’Sullivan

Assignment Name: “The Benefits of Music Therapy: Who and How it can help?”

“The Benefits of Music Therapy: Who and how it can help?”

“Music therapy is an interpersonal process in which the therapist uses music and all of its facets---physical, emotional, mental, social, aesthetic, and spiritual---to help clients to improve, restore or maintain health”

Music therapy is designed to work with individuals of all ages with a vast array of conditions. Such conditions include aging, abuse, addiction, communication disorder, dysfunctional relationships, disadvantage, emotional or behavioral problems, medical

One specific case study from this book caught my interest and it’s benefits to it’s client were astonishing. The case study is called ‘Music Therapy For A Nonverbal Autistic Adult’ and is recorded by therapist Ginger Clarkson. We are given the client’s background starting before he even began his life on our earth. His mother was said to be in a car crash when she was only three months pregnant with Jerry, the client. He was born at eight months and was born “dead”. Jerry seemed to start within a troubled surroundings being autistic who was nonverbal and violent to himself and others, but was gifted by a musical family and environment. His mother noticed that he would move to the music and was responsive through the medium. He would sit quietly in church and loved hearing the church choir. His mother realized that when she would play the classical radio station as Jerry became distressed he would rock himself to the rhythm and fall asleep. There were many cases where they found Jerry being lost in music and diminishing characteristics of his Autism. At the age of three Jerry had been diagnosed autistic and although presenting himself as a perfect candidate for music therapy, he had to wait until he was

The ability to create a world that some people cannot understand and meet at a medium is amazing, especially when done through music. Music therapy is intelligently designed to work with individuals of all ages with a vast array of conditions like Jerry and many more. Music therapy allowed Jerry to become self-aware and stimulate his developmental growth within his environment. It allowed him to become stress free so he could live an easier life and promoted self-actualization. In this case Jerry worked in a one and one setting, which was more suited due to his anger tantrums, which were said to be dangerous. As said in my opening paragraph there are many benefits with music therapy sessions achieving goals such as developing social skills, promoting a child with Autism’s emotional skills. This case study is proof that music therapy works efficiently to the client and is created in order to help one’s well being and physical and mental disability which is powerful to say the