Music, the healer.

When you think about workers in the health and science fields, the first things that come to mind may often be…

a researcher in a lab coat, a physical therapist, a doctor, a CNA. These professions we are quite familiar with.

But have you ever considered that a MUSICIAN? Could be a part of this network of healers? If you have doubts, you’re in the majority.

What many fail to realize is music has been part of human healing practices for centuries. Often ridden off as some wish-wash of a profession, people forget the importance that creative arts can hold for our health.

Music therapy in Googles terms —- “is a clinical health profession that uses musical experiences as a tool to achieve personalized non-musical goals, led by a certified MT-BC.”

Music therapy comes with many different facets that help emotional and physical health. Whether it is the lyrical and songwriting aspect of delving into difficult emotions, or the physical vibrations of a sound bowl, music can heal us inside and out.

The amount of ground breaking and heart warming moments I’ve had as a music therapy intern have been extraordinary.

I have seen children finally open up about their parents passing through songwriting, teens with IDDs expressing they are “no longer afraid” to be themselves after a improv rap performance, adults with early dementia tearing up at the fact they learned a new song, despite thinking it was impossible, people with chronic pain eased by a sound bath, the smiles of an adult with autism as they realized they could communicate with me through drums.

We forget our health and human experiences are not limited to medications, doctors visits, and white walled hospital rooms. To create a human environment to healing, we need to think outside the box. Outside the known and the standard.

So next time, you consider how to approach your own or child’s healing journey, I ask you to look at it from all angles of human experience. We need calm, creative ways to cope, heal, and find belonging, along with westernized medical practices.

Today’s message:

Find ways to use creative arts in your healing journey! Think outside the box. Give yourself grace.

-Not your average music blog