January 17, 2020
How does music power up your life – before, during or after trauma? Could this be you talking?
Music is my therapist … I can’t imagine life without my music.
Imagine … right now thousands of American troops are being deployed into conflict in the Middle East, without easy access to music.
They can’t take cell phones or computers with them now because advancements in warfare technology enable the enemy to track locations.
So, alternative sources are really needed to arm them with music to lessen the effects of traumatic unsettledness.
The Trenches of Daily Living
When you find yourself in the trenches of daily living and experience a traumatic event such as a car accident, at least you have your music readily available. Recovering your emotional balance is very important.
When persistent anxiety, anger, depression or sadness frustrate your ability to think clearly, positively, and stay focused on normal daily routines, learn how to apply music like medicine to significantly reduce unsettledness and build greater peace and happiness.
The quickest way to apply music like medicine: get your own music therapist. Music therapy treats people from cradle to grave, womb to tomb. In fact, music therapy requires a credentialed music therapist engaging with the client or patient through music interventions.
More than sixty work settings employ over 8,000 music therapists in the USA. They form a therapeutic relationship with clients and patients, identifying non-musical and musical goals through the process of assessment, treatment and evaluation, working also within treatment teams who desire to co-treat for maximum therapeutic effect.
Music therapy interventions include spontaneous adaptations along with pre-planned sessions for groups and individuals. Music therapists create and customize music-making with a variety of music instruments, as well as facilitating songwriting, lyric analysis, receptive music listening (meditations), singing, and drumming.
Music and Medicine
When you can’t find a music therapist, there is a music-therapy informed protocol called Music4Life Music Medicine that teaches you how to harness the power of music through prescriptive Music Medicine Pills™.
These special prescriptions utilize specialized playlists that consider music from all genres as part of the process toward healing and recovering life.
Understanding what kind of music is assigned to which playlist, then determining the right Mood Sequence Formula™ for your Music Medicine Pill are all crucial elements in making music work like medicine.
Then, emotional fluidity, mood control aka emotional regulation, as well as emotional intelligence, can blossom as you recover your life.
Toxic Music Is A Problem
Your first step is finding out if you’re in any danger zones where music listening habits become toxic. If you’re stuck there, you won’t know it because that Chronic Unsettled Comfort Zone™ disguises what you’re really feeling.
Decode the impact of music on your physiology, emotions, behavior and thoughts. Your whole body’s responses to music influences neurochemicals, blood pressure, heart rate, galvanic skin response (chill bumps or sweating), and respiration.
B.F. Skinner connects thoughts as behaviors “we haven’t learned to observe yet.” When we observe how thoughts influence behaviors, we tap into the effects of our mindset. We realize that our mindset is a collection of thoughts and beliefs that shape thought habits.
Thought habits connect to music listening habits which link to physiological, emotional, and behavioral responses. It’s an endless cycle of connectedness.
The Music Therapy Plays You
When you push play on music, that music’s really playing you!
As you use music daily, you could be actively influencing all parts of your life. Songs may describe life and grow to be your life’s soundtrack.
As you crave the music more often it may become a lifeline. The -music may match your mood, provide relief, or gently nudge reminders of the life you desire.
When you really want to recover your life, do the deep dive and discover what’s really going on internally. Enroll at MusicMedicineAcademy.com or join MusicMedicineClub.com to automatically receive ebooks, Music Medicine playlists, blogs, vlogs, webinars and so much more.
Today’s article was written by our Guest Blogger:
Judith Pinkerton, LPMT, MT-BC
Licensed board-certified music therapist
Founder/CEO, Music 4 Life® Inc.
T 702-889-2881