On May 5, 2016, a concert by the Mariinsky Theatre Symphony Orchestra from St. Petersburg, Russia, was held at the Roman amphitheater in the ancient ruins of Palmyra, Syria. Palmyra is an archaeological site of a city from the period of Roman rule in central Syria; it was at one point occupied by IS (Islamic State), but with Russian military support the Syrian government forces recaptured it in March 2016. According to the Russian government, the concert was held as a memorial for all those harmed by IS and dedicated to all who fight IS despite risking their lives, and in the hope that Palmyra would be freed from the horrors of international terrorism and return to modern civilization. It may also be seen as an attempt by Russia to showcase that, thanks to its support, Syria’s civilization—also a World Heritage site—was reclaimed from IS. In any case, it is not uncommon for music to be used at occasions for mourning and for praying for peace. Why is that, and what effects does music have? Let us explore.

Concert in Palmyra (Photo: Panoramio/L-BBE [CC BY 3.0])

What is music therapy

Music originated alongside the birth of ancient forms of worship such as animism and other early religions, and later came to be used in hymns in Judaism and Christianity. The idea that music has the power to heal the mind dates back to ancient Greece, but it began to be used in earnest as medical therapy in the early 20th-century United States, where it was employed in military hospitals after it was found effective in restoring the morale of wounded soldiers. Music therapy seeks to improve or restore physical, psychological, and social well-being by inducing relaxation or arousal through music, reducing stress and anxiety, and eliciting means of communication such as words and facial expressions to foster relationships; it is categorized as alternative or complementary medicine.

In fact, there are results showing that subjects exposed to music in clinical settings such as childbirth, surgery, rehabilitation, and intensive care reported greater satisfaction than those who were not. Typical purposes include reducing pain intensity and duration, shortening hospital stays, and helping vital signs such as blood pressure and heart rate recover. It is also expected to help address conditions that even advanced medicine cannot cure, such as alleviating the psychological distress of cancer patients, and to enhance natural healing capacity for intractable and chronic illnesses. Research at the University of Bergen in Norway has also demonstrated that music therapy has beneficial effects on older adults with mental disorders or dementia, and on people with depression, schizophrenia, and personality disorders.

U.S. soldier learning guitar as part of music therapy (Photo: Army Medicine/Flickr [CC BY 2.0])

Music therapy in Norway

Here, let us look at the case of Norway. In Norway, the Norwegian Music Therapy Association was established in 1972, and in 1978 the first university-level training program for music therapists was launched. Since 1981, when it began to receive official funding from the Norwegian government, the country has put increasing emphasis on music therapy education. Furthermore, in 2013 music therapy was incorporated into the Norwegian Council’s guidelines for the treatment of mental disorders, and is coming to stand alongside pharmacotherapy and cognitive behavioral therapy. Norway is known as one of the leading countries in music therapy, owing to its links with special education and the distinctive approach called community music therapy. Norwegian music therapy is strongly influenced by social-democratic thinking, with the idea that activities through music should nurture a communal spirit and avoid producing winners and losers as individuals; this ethos is reflected in the method known as community music therapy.

Community music therapy is an approach that, rather than limiting treatment to the patient and therapist, involves family and peers to rebuild relationships and bring change to the community as a whole. For example, people with mental or physical disabilities are encouraged to join local music bands and perform, thereby removing barriers with those around them. There are also cases where inmates practice with a rock band once a week to make it easier to reintegrate into society upon release. The most famous example is the Gloppen Project. In this project, three music therapists in the municipality of Gloppen worked together with a music school and the county; by adding ordinary citizens and musicians to the individual therapy of people with disabilities and music therapists, and with support from the municipality and the state, it aimed to enable people with disabilities to participate in musical activities and live together with non-disabled people. In this way, Norway has developed music therapy beyond individual treatment into activities at the broader level of local communities. Today, as economic growth is prioritized, science and technology advance, and people feel alienation and loneliness despite material affluence, such approaches have begun to be adopted in many parts of the world; Norway, however, has been practicing this therapy for 25 years.

Music therapy session (Photo: wikipedia/Universitaetsmedizin [CC BY SA 4.0])

The limits and possibilities of music therapy

Using Norway as an example, we have discussed music therapy, but although it has been recognized as effective for various medical and social issues, it is far from a panacea. In an experiment conducted from 2011 to 2015 at 10 treatment centers worldwide, children aged 4 to 7 with Asperger syndrome were split evenly into a group receiving standard treatment only and a group receiving music therapy in addition to standard treatment; observation found no significant differences in their social abilities. In other words, for Asperger syndrome, music therapy did not prove effective.

That said, even if it did not show benefits for Asperger syndrome, there are cases in which it has been shown effective for other conditions. Norway’s community-engaged, society-wide practice of music therapy has drawn international attention and certainly holds possibilities that individual treatment alone does not. We hope that governments, universities, and healthcare professionals will continue working together to advance research and further expand the potential of music therapy.

Writer: Saeka Inaka