Ryan Agnew, Leavenworth senior, Allyson Smola, Aurora, Colo. senior and Patina Ammerman, Flower Mound, Texas senior perform in front of their Music Therapy class on Thursday in Murphy Hall. This exercise was part of a presentation where students came up with a song to teach the structure of the human brain to the rest of the class.
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
One thing can always boost Molly Iler’s spirits on a bad day.
“I blast ‘Build Me Up Buttercup,’” Iler, Summit, N.J., junior, said. “You can’t be in a bad mood when that song is on. It’s not possible.”
Iler, like many students, listens to music on her way to class. The happy songs, guilty pleasures and pump-up tunes can help her and other students get through the day, but those same melodies may also help lower stress levels, Claire Ghetti, doctoral student in music therapy, said.
Ghetti said that although music therapy usually requires assessment and intervention by a trained music therapist, there are some ways that students can informally use music to reduce stress.
The music-centered approach works to connect “you with your own deepest wisdom as a means to develop greater self-awareness, wellness and creativity,” Victoria Cagan, a fellow with the Association of Music and Imagery said.
Cagan, who is also a licensed specialist clinical social worker in Lawrence, said that music therapy could resolve personal, career, health and relationship challenges through this process.
“Students can also use their preferred music to influence their mood, using upbeat, feel-good songs to improve mood and increase energy at key points in their day,” Ghetti said.
Ghetti said she recommended students listen to music they find calming for short, five-minute breaks throughout the day. She said practicing deep breathing and basic muscle relaxation exercises while listening to calming music helped relieve stress.
“Having tools to help relieve stress is incredibly beneficial,” Emily Berman, Tulsa senior in psychology, said. “When one support system fails, you’ll have others to back it up.”
The music therapy program at the University was one of the first in the country and is “world renowned,” Ghetti said. She said more studies needed to be conducted to see the true success of music therapy because of the relatively young nature of the program, which is only about 70 years old in the U.S.
Music therapy can help resolve personal conflict when traditional therapy sessions aren’t successful or don’t produce the desired results, Cagan said.
“Often individuals have tried traditional talk therapy but have not gotten the results they hoped for,” Cagan said. “Many people find guided imagery and music gets to the heart of the problems they are dealing with more quickly.”
Unlike talk therapy, which relies heavily on verbal communication, music therapy uses non-verbal means to achieve a therapeutic outcome. Because the brain processes music differently than speech, therapists can use music to elicit different responses than with speech alone, Ghetti said.
“Students are under a great deal of pressure to perform,” Cagan said. “Music-centered therapy is the perfect connection to help students focus, set goals, recognize their full potential and move through the everyday stress of deadlines and degrees.”
— Edited by Nick Gerik
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