(Music Therapy in Dementia Treatment)

Does Music Therapy Help or Harm?

Shaun Hellige

May 19, 2017

Shaun Hellige

Mrs. Trelease

English 12

May 19, 2017

Does Music Therapy Help or Harm?

Statement of Topic

The topic of my research is Music Therapy. Music accesses the brain like no other

activity. It actually activates and requires the entire brain whereas most other activities only

access around 30-50% of the brain.

This figure to the right explains

what music does to each part of the

brain.The brain can relate certain

songs to memories, so if it hears a

song maybe 20 years down the

road, the brain will remember that

memory from 20 years ago. Music

Therapy has helped many elderly (The Brain)

with dementia and Alzheimer’s because of this effect.

Purpose
 I am researching this topic mainly to educate and explore the negative effects Music

Therapy can have. I would also like to inform my audience about Music Therapy and the

positivity it can bring. Many people I have talked to did not know about Music Therapy. This

new type of therapy is very powerful and more people should know about it.

Scope

First, this paper will define Music Therapy then explore the basic negative effects it can

have on patients. The next thing researched is the positive effects it has, which is many. The

paper will then look at the other things the therapy does to the brain of these elderly people, like

the confusion mentioned above. Next it will look at Music Therapy with the viewpoint of a

scientific therapy. Lastly, the paper will look into the requirements for becoming a certified

Music Therapist. The paper will not go into details about Music Therapy and how it works with

other diseases.

The statistics and examples that are contained in this paper are from research in the

U.S.A. The music used in the examples is a range of music from classical to rap to folk, both

recorded and live recorded.

Research

For years, Music Therapy has been used to help the elderly with dementia, Alzheimer's, and

many other diseases. The American Music Therapy Association defines it as follows, “Music

Therapy is the clinical and evidence-based use of music interventions to accomplish

individualized goals within a therapeutic relationship by a credentialed professional who has

completed an approved Music Therapy program” (American Music Therapy Association).

In the definition, it mentions the use of “evidence-based use of music interventions”

(American Music Therapy Association). For successful use of Music Therapy, the therapist must
know a little bit about the patient’s music taste. The use of wrong music can lead to the opposite

effect of the wants. On the website Milestone Music Therapy, it explains a story of this

happening. A teenage boy had been in a snowmobile accident and received traumatic brain

injuries. One of his doctors called in the qualified and trained music therapist to replace the other

therapist that his parents had called in suggesting he had caused more harm than healing. When

the new therapist walked into the room there was classical music playing and the boy was

strapped to the bed, writhing in pain. The therapist asked the parents if he actually liked classical

music to which the mother responded with a firm no. She informed the therapist that her son

appreciated and calmed down to rap. In less than three minutes of the rap playing, the boy settled

down (Can Music Be Dangerous? YES!). This is only one example of how Music Therapy can

harm. When used correctly, Music Therapy can do so much to heal. With the story above, the

boy was able to relax to the rap music which meant his brain was able to focus fully on healing

his body.

Music therapy is mostly associated with Alzheimer's and dementia as music has the power to

bring even the most advanced patients back to reality. Songs that played a major role in

someone’s life will bring emotions to that person. “Neurologist Oliver Slacks says that, ‘Music

evokes emotion, and emotion can bring with it memory...it brings back the feeling of life when

nothing else can’”. Assisted living homes can use this idea because patients can listen to music

while doing everyday activities. This helps them develop a rhythm that recalls a memory of

certain activities that increases cognitive ability over time. This process takes different amounts

of time for different people as some may be farther into their mental disease than others. As part

of Music Therapy sessions, singing activates the left side of the brain while listening to the music
and the music created by singing activates the right side of the brain. This exercise uses the entire

brain and

more mind power than

everyday usage. This

helps with Alzheimer’s

and dementia patients

(The Power of Music in

Alleviating Dementia

Symptoms)

because it simply keeps their entire brains active. Lastly, “music can bring emotional and

physical closeness.” With these mental illnesses, patients will lose the ability to share emotions

(Sauer, Alissa). This is because dementia tends to attack the limbic system first. The limbic

system controls emotions and memory, mainly long term memory (Society, Alzheimer’s). To

bring back the lost memories and even security through hugs and touching, as long as the patient

is ambulatory, the therapy sessions can include dancing. This can/will bring back the ability to

share emotions (Sauer, Alissa).

 We’ve looked at the

positive ways Music

Therapy works and also,

when used wrong, what

Music Therapy does. How

about the confusion Music

Therapy can have on the

elderly minds of Alzheimer’s and dementia patients? In 2010, a video featuring an elderly man

named Henry made its way through social media. In the video, music is used to bring him out of

a state of stillness. This is Music Therapy at work. When the headphones are removed from

Henry’s head, he just talks and talks and talks. Specifically, one of the things he’s ranting about is

his favorite Cab Calloway song, a cover of I’ll Be Home For Christmas. He loves it so much

that he even begins singing it. The author of the article The Dangers of Overestimating Music

Therapy, Steve Swayne, (How Music ‘Awakens’ Alzheimer’s Patients)

researched very deeply and found that Cab Calloway never performed a cover of I’ll Be Home

for Christmas. What does this mean ultimately? Swayne describes it as “these iPod interventions

might not be returning these patients to their teens and early adulthood.” In doing this, these

patients could be awakening to sounds they love, but into a strange world that they don’t

recognize. Swayne explains that this joy of familiar sounds can be woven with anxiety and terror

of the unknown, but this anxiety and terror is not shown as the patients are too busy talking about

the joyous events. Scientists believe this anxiety to be there due to other stories of Music

Therapy being unsuccessful when really, the therapist in those stories didn’t really know how to

use music in a therapeutic fashion.

 Now let’s look at Music Therapy scientifically, there are many therapeutical scientists

that believe that Music Therapy isn’t a biomedical therapy. The biomedical model is “seeing is

believing.” If the doctors don’t have something they can see, then why bother treating it as a

remedy? Music Therapy doesn’t have a fixed treatment, or something a doctor can prescribe and

is picked up at the pharmacy. It simply requires the caregiver to learn about the patient and plug

in the right music for him/her. Along with not having a fixed treatment, Music Therapy has no

predictable outcome. An outcome can be guessed but it will be different for every person. Having

that fixed outcome is essential to the scientific model since it is part of the biomedical model.

Having these therapeutical scientists view Music Therapy this way means that certain states in

the U.S. don’t offer Music Therapy in hospitals or assisted living homes.

Having looked at all the research and many scientists saying Music Therapy isn’t a

biomedical therapy, let’s look at how you become a music therapist. First off, you must be

proficient in many musical areas. These areas include guitar, piano, voice, music theory, music

history, reading music, and improvisation. You must also be proficient in certain counseling

health care skills that depend on the university you attend. Generally, however, these skills may

include varying levels of skill in assessment, and documentation. To become certified by the

American Music Therapy Association (AMTA) board, you must earn your degree from a

university or college that is approved by AMTA. You then must complete an internship and pass

the certification examination given to you by AMTA board. Once you have been granted

certification by the Certification Board for Music Therapists, you can earn the title of Music

Therapist-Board Certified (MT-BC) (California Central Chapter).

Ethics Summary
 From a scientific point of view, Music Therapy should be ethical. Many scientists believe that

it’s unethical because they think you can’t give an educated guess with the outcome for Music

Therapy. The truth is, the outcome can be many more than normal therapy, but there still is an

outcome to be told about. The outcomes can include, a happy and joyful outcome, a sad outcome

because the music triggers somber memories to surface, and lastly it can be a bad outcome where

the mind is using all it can to ignore the music rather than using its energy to heal whatever needs

to be healed. Whereas in normal therapy, the outcomes are either it works or it doesn’t.

The other unethical thing we can look at, and probably is the bigger unethical topic, is that

Music Therapy isn’t an official therapy. As discussed before, there are certain states or even

assisted living centers that don’t accept Music Therapy as an official therapy, or a biomedical

therapy. This is unethical, as it is one of the best therapies and not accepting it as a therapy makes

it unavailable to patients unless they pay for it out of their own pocket.

Proposal of Action

My proposal of action will include proper basic training in Music Therapy to caregivers

or individuals who would have a use for the therapy. This can include owners of assisted living

centers, caregivers that work at the assisted living centers, and at home or even private

caregivers. Many people might see Music Therapy as a really easy thing to grasp and use without

knowing the negative effects it can have. Then those negative effects could show up because they

are not doing it properly.

My proposal has 2 parts. The first part is already in motion. It is to include Music

Therapy in the curriculum used to become a therapist in college. For the past 4 years, AMTA and

I have been going around the country to different colleges and universities in combined

conferences to get them to agree to putting Music Therapy into their curriculum. The funding has
been coming from AMTA themselves and the cost so far has only been about $10,000. This has

proven to be very successful as just over 12,000 schools have agreed to do this. AMTA has also

agreed to train each professor for free so the schools won’t have to go hire new professors.

The second half is to have AMTA hold a Music Therapy conference for all therapists

already in practice to attend. This conference will happen June 11-15, 2018. We have received

responses from many therapists agreeing to come and we are already expecting 5,000 per night.

Since we will require a large space, AMTA has already rented out the Expo Center of Taylor

County in Texas for the week. Together, AMTA and I are still going around the country to

therapist conferences in each state to give our presentation and ask them to come. This

conference will be led by the world leading therapists in Music Therapy. They would teach these

caregivers about Music Therapy, the history, and the basics of how to use it properly. The

funding has been coming from generous donations from hospitals and therapy companies all

across the nation. Currently we have raised $115,000 over the course of this past year. If we do

not meet our goal, $250,000-$300,000, by December of this year, we will ask Oprah to fund the

rest. This cost covers the trip expenses of flying the therapists out, placing them in hotels, paying

our professionals, and food. AMTA has asked the expo center to provide 250 volunteers and we

have gathered another 250 volunteers from going around the country for fundraising.

Conclusion

Does Music Therapy help or harm? When used correctly, it can help a tremendous amount

with Alzheimer’s and dementia patients. Music has the power to evoke emotion which can

trigger memories to surface. Along with that, music activates the entire brain which can increase

cognitive activity. When used in a therapeutic environment, dancing is involved which helps the
patients to become more active and can help them share their long-lost emotions. All in all,

Music Therapy can perform major feats for good that regular therapy or even science can’t do.

Works Cited

Lillieth on March. "Can music be dangerous? YES!"Milestone Music Therapy. N.p., n.d.

Web. 21 Dec. 2016.

"American Music Therapy Association."What is Music Therapy | What is Music Therapy? |

American Music Therapy Association (AMTA). N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Dec. 2016.

"The Brain."Home. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Dec. 2016.

California Central Chapter. Music Therapy Enhancing Cognition. Santa Barbara: California

Central

Chapter, 2011. Print.

Lillieth. "Can music be dangerous? YES!" Milestone Music Therapy. N.p., n.d. Web. 09 May

2017.

"Music Therapy in Dementia Treatment." Senior Care Resources by Mavencare. N.p., n.d. Web.

23

Nov. 2016.
Rodriguez, Tori. "The Power of Music in Alleviating Dementia Symptoms." It's Interesting. N.p.,

21

Nov. 2015. Web. 28 Dec. 2016.

Sauer, Alissa. "5 Reasons Why Music Boosts Brain Activity." Alzheimers.net. N.p., 21 July 2014.

Web. 28 Dec. 2016.

Society, Alzheimer's. "Dementia and the brain."Natasha Judd. Alzheimer's Society, n.d. Web. 04

Jan.

2017.

Swayne, Steve. "The Dangers of Overestimating Music Therapy." The Atlantic. Atlantic Media

Company, 15 July 2014. Web. 28 Dec. 2016.

Wolchover, Natalie. "How Music 'Awakens' Alzheimer's Patients." LiveScience. Purch, 18 Apr.

2012.

Web. 28 Dec. 2016.

With this piece, the biggest revision I did was in the Purpose section of the paper. It was mostly

just organizing the information and adding my opinions in addition to the information given. The

rest of the revision was just grammar errors.