The Limitations of Music Therapy---->By James Clear
You can summarize the current state of research on the
connection between music and health by saying that we know
music impacts our brains and bodies, but we don't quite
understand exactly why or how music does this. And because we
don't understand the details, it can be hard to use music for
healing.
To be honest, part of these issues could be solved if researchers
performed better studies. Right now, researchers aren't doing
themselves any favors because musical research rarely follows a
typical format.
Here are a few common errors (and solutions).
1. Current research doesn't clearly differentiate if it is the act
of playing music or the act of listening to music that
benefits patients. For example, if a patient gets better after
playing songs on a keyboard, chanting in different tones, or
singing their favorite song, are they benefiting from the
musical notes or from the act of playing music? Future
studies should investigate if active performance or passive
listening yields better results.
2. Current research poorly categorizes the impact of different
music styles. Most researchers lump music therapy into
broad “stimulating” or “relaxing” categories. Future
research should include more clearly defined boundaries,
so we can understand which types of music can be used to
heal in specific situations.
3. Current research flip-flops on who controls the music.
Sometimes the experimenter chooses the music. Sometimes
the patient chooses their own music. This can complicate
things because sometimes you are more likely to see music
as having a positive impact simply if you selected the
music. Future research should be more clear about this
selection process.
4. Current research varies between individual listening,
individual playing, and group playing. In many cases,
patients may benefit from simply doing an activity with a
group and not the music itself. Future research should
investigate these environmental factors to help clarify the
impact of individual vs. group music therapy.
5. Current research, at least what I found, was universally
missing a large, randomized trial. This type of study is the
gold-standard of research and if music therapy
interventions are to be taken seriously, then a high quality
randomized study is needed.
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