THE CONCEPT OF THERAPY IN TERMS OF MUSIC THERAPY

A CONCEPT PAPER

SUBMITTED BY: PRINCESS E. DE LOS SANTOS BSA-1

SUBMITTED TO: Mr. MARS EDWENSON BRIONES

APRIL 16, 2014

In

dictionary-based

definition,

therapy

is

defined

as

treatment of disease or disorders, as by some remedial, rehabilitating, or curative process

(Dictionary.com, 2014). Therapy is an umbrella term used to refer to the healing interplay or
approach (MacDonald, 2013) between the patient who has the malady, either physical or
mental, and the therapist. Patients who have psychological and mental maladies for that matter
undergo several therapeutic methods, and even incorporate the essence of music as a tool to treat,
restore, and even improve their lives despite their condition.
The notion of therapy, otherwise known as psychotherapy, has been promoted by some
physicians as early as the Middle Ages wherein Paracelsus, who was a German-Swiss physician
and alchemist (Encyclopedia Britannica, 2014) upheld the idea that psychotherapy [can be a]
treatment of the insane (Haggerty, 2006). According to Haggerty (2006), a writer of the article
History of Psychotherapy, whilst the idea of treating emotional problems through talking
provoked diverse implications, Walter Cooper Dendy, an English psychiatrist, coined the term
psycho-therapeia in the year 1853 which later became psychotherapy.
The concept of therapy encompasses an extensive application of healing coaction
between the therapist and the patient. The therapist may apply different kinds of therapy or
psychotherapy to the patient depending on which aspect or nature the patients condition
corresponds to. Research-based procedures and techniques are applied by the therapist to the
patient in order for the latter to achieve yearned general disposition (American Psychological
Association, 2014). Albeit there are many techniques that are said to be applicable and effective,
there are still conditions that the therapist must consider before deciding on what kind of therapy
should be applied to the patient who has mental or psychological disorder.

Psychotherapy is broadly classified into four (4) categories: behavioral therapy,

psychoanalysis and/or psychodynamic therapy, humanistic therapy, and art therapy. These are
generalized approaches that a therapist may use to his/her patient which must basically
correspond to the latters conditions and address to his/her mental and psychological needs
(Types of Therapy, 2014).
As the term implies, behavioral therapy deals with the behavior as well as the thoughts
and feelings behind such behavior. The focal points of this kind of therapy are the acquired
behaviors of the patient undergoing the therapy and how ones environment contributed to ones
behavior and outward actions (en.wikipedia.org). In relation to the first category which revolves
around the behavior of the patient, the second one is the psychoanalysis and/or psychodynamic
therapy, which centralizes on the unawareness and unconsciousness of the patient as well as how
past behaviors have an effect on the present. In this kind of therapy, the therapist would usually
let the patient freely relay his/her past experiences which evolved from childhood in order to
examine how the patient has grown to develop such kind of mental and psychological
disturbance (Haggerty, 2006) and eventually establish means on how the patient can attend to or
even resolve his/her mental and psychological upset. In contrast to psychodynamic therapy,
which considers the past behaviors of the patient, one of the categories of psychotherapy is also
the humanistic therapy, which mainly deals with how the patient with mental or psychological
malady would develop oneself at the present times (Haggerty, 2014) and is commonly called the
person-centered [and/or the] client-centered therapy (Types of Therapy, 2014). Unlike the
three aforementioned categories which mainly deal with the patient per se and his/her
experiences, art therapy, the remaining one of the four categories of psychotherapy, basically
utilizes the creative arts within the therapeutic process (Types of Therapy, 2014) as the term

itself suggests. One of the countless ways the patient can address to his/her mental or
psychological malady is to use art and the creative process to promote and nurture as well ones
self-expression, to muddle through mental and psychological stress, to better ones skills of
coping up, and to establish a sense of self-worth (Art Therapy Alliance, n.d.).
These are but generalizations about the different kinds of therapies that the therapist can
apply to his/her patient. The former may either establish his/her own techniques by combining
and integrating two or more techniques or may apply the aforesaid techniques in an eclectic
manner wherein the components of the techniques are being taken and integrated upon
depending on the condition of the patient (Types of Therapy, 2014).
Zooming in on the fourth category of psychotherapy which is art therapy, music as an
an art of sound in time that expresses ideas and emotions in significant forms through the
elements of rhythm, melody, harmony, and color (Dictionary.com, 2014) can also be integrated
as a tool to conduct such kind of therapy. A simple arrangement of diverse sounds can already
produce music, pursuant to how music is defined in a dictionary. Since art therapy is generally
defined as both the creation of art and the discovery of its meaning (International Art Therapy
Organization [ITAO], 2009), interactive music-making and deepening the patients
understanding of how the sounds interplay with each other can actually develop the patients
self-expression, self-discovery, and emotional growth (IATO, 2009).

Using and developing

music as a tool for supportive therapy is already a growing field of health care (Scott, 2011)
and the term music therapy has been coined for this kind of expressive medium.
Examining the patients past experiences which evolved from childhood and
understanding ones behavior are both simplistic ways of helping the patient cope up and recover

from the condition. In art therapy, integrating music within the therapeutic process can aid the
patient who has mental or psychological malady to develop ones aesthetic sense and to enhance
relational skills through an expressive interaction (Music Therapy, 2014). This kind of
approach is basically different from other therapeutic techniques because it solely banks on
music and its significant components. Listening to music is the most common and simplest form
of approach, but is not limited to it. The therapist also allows the patient to improvise, compose
and re-create music in order to widen the latters horizons in terms of musical experiences and
eventually achieve more than what is yearned for. Whilst listening to music, the patient is able to
freely respond to the effects of music and display ones outward expression in the long run. The
therapeutic process involving the use of music is not restricted to listening alone. The patient can
also improvise and compose music at will which will help portray and extend ones inner self
towards others. Re-creating music through the use of pre-composed music can display the
patients interpretation of the music used and the therapist can examine how the mental and/or
psychological facet of the patient works (Bruscia, 1993). The therapist can use any of those
approaches and/or combine them to achieve diversity whilst treating the patient.
Using music as a tool for therapeutic approaches under the category of art therapy can
help treat or alleviate the mental and psychological distress of the patients brought by the
maladies causing such. The creative process used in this kind of therapeutic technique can
heighten the weaknesses of the patients, which, more often than not, center on the need of
expressing oneself, the faculty of socializing with others, and the necessity to cope up with what
is normal.

References
APA.org: Therapy. (2014). Retrieved April 10, 2014, from http://www.apa.org/topics/therapy/
Britannica.com:

Paracelsus.

(2014).

Retrieved

April

10,

2014,

from

http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/442424/Paracelsus
Bruscia, K. (1993). Music therapy brief. Temple University.Retrieved from April 11, 2014, from
http://www.temple.edu/musictherapy/home/program/faq.htm
Counselling-directory.org: Types of therapy. (2014). Retrieved April 10, 2014, from
http://www.counselling-directory.org.uk/counselling.html
Haggerty, J. (2006). History of psychotherapy. Psych Central. Retrieved on April 9, 2014, from
http://psychcentral.com/lib/history-of-psychotherapy/000115
Haggerty, J. (2006). Psychodynamic therapy. Psych Central. Retrieved on April 10, 2014, from
http://psychcentral.com/lib/psychodynamic-therapy/000119
Internationalarttherapy.org: Art therapy and mental health. (2009). Retrieved April 9, 2014, from
http://www.internationalarttherapy.org/mentalhealth.html
MacDonald, C. (2013, August 13). What is therapy?. Health Psychology Center. Retrieved April
10, 2014, from http://healthpsychology.org/what-is-therapy/
RCPSYCH.org: Music therapy for depression: it seems to work but how?. (2014). Abstract
retrieved April 9, 2014, from http://bjp.rcpsych.org/content/199/2/92.full

Scott, E. (2011, October 7). Music and your body: how music affects us and why music therapy
promotes health. About.com Stress Management. Retrieved April 3, 2014, from
http://stress.about.com/od/tensiontamers/a/music_therapy.htm
Wikipedia.org: Behaviour therapy. (2014). Retrieved April 9, 2014, from
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Behaviour_therapy