How Music Therapy Helps Overcome Trauma
Working through trauma can be one of the most daunting tasks an individual can choose to take on. Even when working with a licensed therapist, processing trauma is just that - a process. It not only takes time and commitment but also asks you to confront the past and take power back for yourself. As with many conditions in psychology, trauma is still being researched to see the best approach to overcoming it. While there are no one-size-fits-all techniques, different fields have had varying degrees of success in their practice.
How does therapy help with trauma?
Previously I said that there are many different approaches to helping people process trauma— talk psychotherapy, cognitive behavioral therapy, dialectic behavioral therapy, music therapy, etc. There is a lot of overlap between these therapies, but each differs in its approach to utilizing their tools.
For example, a central aspect of CBT is having a patient overcome specific triggers by reworking the way they think on a fundamental level. A psychotherapist looking to help a patient process triggers might use techniques such as letter writing, exposure therapy, or cognitive reframing. Even though these techniques were solidified in CBT, any therapist can use them!
Music therapy acts in this way, a multidisciplinary approach that focuses on therapeutic techniques through the lens of music. For example, a talk psychotherapist may have you write down your feelings in a notebook to help you process them, while I might have you write lyrics instead! The poetic nature of lyricism lends a helping hand when trying to process emotions that might be too complex. Far more than just using traditional therapeutic methods, there are plenty of tools in the music therapist’s toolbox to help patients with trauma.
How does music therapy help?
Music therapy began to form after World War 1 when many musicians would go and play music for the veterans suffering from “Shell Shock” (PTSD). This was the catalyst that would go on to inspire people like E. Thayer Gaston to formalize music therapy into a more academic field. To him, the healing properties of music were self-evident, but he wanted to make sure there were standardized methods for therapists to use.
Despite all of this, clinical trials demonstrating the healing effects of music on trauma victims, specifically people with PTSD, didn’t begin until recently. However, in many of these studies, music therapy has been shown to be just as effective as other approaches to trauma treatment.
In the study I linked above, there was a fascinating correlation between rhythm and instilling a sense of regularity into people’s lives. Trauma is something that profoundly affects the mind, and sometimes physiology, of a person. It can disrupt the “story” of our lives, making it feel disordered and causing massive amounts of dread, anxiety, depression, and panic. The rhythm and cadence that makes music, well… music, helps these people overcome the feeling of disorder that is so prominent in people struggling with trauma. Rhythmic therapies can be as simple as group therapy drum circles or more intimate like a one-on-one session with a music therapist.
Furthermore, an aspect of trauma recovery is giving power back to individuals who feel powerless. It can be hard to find the words to describe your emotions about this, rendering you powerless to the thought of the event. Working with a music therapist to process emotion in lyrics, do lyrical improv, or even just vocalizing on top of music can help a lot! Being vulnerable enough to process your feelings is one of the first steps in overcoming trauma!
There are many more techniques in music therapy that help with trauma, far more than I outlined above! This blog wasn’t to serve as a comprehensive list of every method a music therapist uses but rather to showcase a tiny bit of what music therapy has to offer. If you’d like to chat a bit more about what services music therapists offer to help deal with trauma, contact me for a free consultation!