2023 Issue 6 Nov/Dec Focus - Mid-South Magazine

health+wellness
Utilizing Music in
Improving Mental Health:
The Gateway to Our Emotions and Our Bodies
by Molly Okeon, MS, LPC-MHSP
Ferren Family Counseling
“Listening to music has a positive impact on our health by helping us recover faster when we experience stress and
through the reduction of the stress hormone cortisol to help us achieve a calm state or homeostasis.”
- Alex Doman, music producer and author of
“Healing at the Speed of Sound: How What We Hear Transforms Our Brains and Our Lives”
For mental health professionals, utilizing music in
therapy can be an essential tool for connection and
change. Familiar music creates nostalgia, reminding us
of times – both uplifting and difficult – in our lives. It is
crucial for mental health clients to be able to access
their emotions, which can be a struggle for those who
have experienced traumatic events; suffer from chemical
imbalances such as depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder
and other mood disorders; or struggle with alcoholism and
addiction. For clients who have been sexually assaulted,
their bodies are no longer a safe place. Traumatic events
such as these create negative cognitions about themselves,
including the belief that they are permanently damaged
or somehow unworthy of love. Music can create a gateway
between our emotions and bodily sensations.
According to board-certified music therapist Lorrie
Kubicek, MT-BC, the impact of listening to music can create
an instantaneous effect on our mental health. At the base
of psychologist Abraham Maslow’s “Hierarchy of Needs”
pyramid are physiological needs, including sleep, food,
exercise, shelter, etc. Music can help us meet these needs.
Mental health counselors will find that, without sleep, even
with a full toolbox of therapeutic coping skills and the
appropriate psychotropic medications, most clients can’t
get their heads above water. Kubicek recommends “easing
a transition to sleep with a soothing playlist.” Also in the
base of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs is the need for exercise
or movement. Kubicek suggests listening to upbeat, fastpaced
dance music in order to find motivation for exercise.
Exercise doesn’t always have to be intensive or long–
necessary movement can equal a walk around the block or
dancing alone at home several times a week.
In the brain, music works by creating emotional reactions
in the nucleus accumbens and the amygdala. The brain’s
visual cortex is activated, resulting in the sound generating
visual memories, perhaps in conjunction with repeatedly
listening to a particular song or hearing it for the first
time during a period of time in one’s life. This results in
nostalgia, defined by Merriam-Webster dictionary as “a
wistful or excessively sentimental yearning for or return to
some past period or irrecoverable condition.”
If you are considered part of the later Generation X
era, born between the years of 1965 and 1980, hearing
grunge bands such as Pearl Jam, Alice in Chains, Nirvana
or Soundgarden may evoke memories of high-intensity,
loud, wild concerts or singing along passionately to lyrics
that were both meaningful and relatable while driving
with friends. Hearing the songs as an adult may result in a
longing for a simpler time in life with less responsibilities,
a time when you didn’t have to worry about paying bills,
keeping a roof over your head, or working for a living. The
emotional end result could be both uplifting and trying at
the same time; however, either way, it can also be key in
opening up an emotional and sensory connection to one’s
mind and body that could otherwise not be accessed.
In a therapeutic setting, music therapists–who have
specialized master of arts degrees in music therapy–
can utilize music in two ways: active and receptive
interventions. Active interventions with clients involve
making music, whether writing lyrics together or working
with the therapist as they play a particular instrument
to develop a melody for their own song. Clients who are
musicians can utilize the instruments they play to develop
a song on their own with the input of the therapist.
Receptive interventions typically include listening to music
rather than creating it. A therapist will play a recording
and process the resulting thoughts and feelings that arise
as the result of hearing it. Either option allows the client’s
brain to connect and engage the body, empowering them
to explore their feelings in a deeper, more intimate manner.
Counselors strive to help their clients develop a better
understanding of themselves, their patterns, their
relationships and the world around them. Music can be a
conduit in that journey, enhancing the client’s experience
of life and helping them move forward in a more authentic,
congruent way.
30 Music | Nov+Dec 2023 | focuslgbt.com