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Music Therapy in New Jersey
Music Therapy
- Written By: Amanda Stevens, B.S.
- Reviewed By: Dr. Po-Chang Hsu, M.D., M.S.
- Updated:
- Published:
- Reading Time: 10 minutes
Learn to march to the beat of your own drum with music therapy in NJ at Absolute Awakenings.
let music guide you to recovery
Listen or Play Your Way to Renewed Purpose
Your quality of life and wellness are cornerstones of your relationship with yourself and how you connect with others. When mental illness or mental health disorders and their symptoms trap you in loops of negativity, it’s time to tackle the problem differently. While medication and talk therapy can do wonders, music moves the soul and rejuvenates the spirit.
Music therapy sessions can decrease anxiety and improve depressive symptoms and functioning of people with depression compared to treatment as usual.
Additionally, music therapy has a strong positive effect in enhancing contemplation, treatment readiness, motivation, and cravings in addiction treatment. Music for addiction and mental illness is proven effective healthcare.
trauma-informed, therapeutic solutions
Our Therapies
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy is a form of talk therapy that helps you to identify negative thoughts and feelings. The goal is to help you understand the sequence of events that lead to undesirable behaviors and stop the cycle before it begins.
DBT was initially created to treat personality disorders but has since maintained prominence as an industry-leading mental health and substance use treatment. While similar to CBT, DBT is a psychotherapy approach that helps you identify and accept two potentially contradictory things in your mind. For example, feeling intense emotions about something and comparing this to the truth about that thing.
Considered more of a counseling approach, Motivational Interviewing is a person-centered and targeted intervention that helps clients identify and address ambivalent feelings about their actions. The intention is to rebuild or develop their own personal motivation to make positive behavior changes.
The goal of ACT is for the client to increase their psychological flexibility by implementing several effective behavioral changes and commitment-based strategies. By accepting hardships or challenges and committing to a healthy response, the client creates positive habits.
Interpersonal Therapy is a form of psychotherapy. The goal is to help clients address their worries and obstacles and improve interpersonal communication and enhance their relationships. The client learns new ways to relate to their circle, their circumstances, and the world around them to develop and maintain healthy relationships.
The road to recovery for someone struggling with alcohol or substance use often brings the family along. Family Therapy is a safe space for every member of the family to be heard, feel seen, and work through their challenges as a group. Here, there is room for the whole unit to be supported and pursue healing, not only the primary client.
Art Therapy is a form of Experiential Therapy that facilitates a hands-on approach to recovery. The client will engage in multiple activities, such as creating or viewing the arts. From drawing and pottery to painting and art museums, the therapist will help the patient engage with all aspects of the craft.
This type of yoga is not simply a workout, although that is often a natural byproduct. Yoga Therapy is an interactive therapeutic approach that engages the whole patient, body, mind, and soul. By connecting these three facets of a person, clients can begin to ease physical, mental, and emotional complaints.
Muay Thai isn’t just for self-defense and movement. It’s also an evidence-back therapeutic outlet that promotes stress relief, focus, and personal discipline. All of these attributes make it a highly-effective therapy technique for drug and alcohol dependence.
Music Therapy is another form of Experiential Therapy that actively engages the client in their treatment with a hands-on approach. Activities range from listening, writing, and playing music under the direction of a skilled provider. Don’t worry, you don’t need to know how to play an instrument in order to participate.
Hypnotherapy is nothing like a hypnotist on a stage. It is, however, an evidence-based and highly-effective therapeutic intervention. In Hypnotherapy, the therapist helps to create a state of increased attention and concentration. Inducing a state of hypnosis gives a sense of heightened awareness and allows the client to process experiences from a detached perspective.
how music works to heal
What is Music Therapy?
The American Music Therapy Association (AMTA) defines music therapy as: “the clinical & evidence-based use of music interventions to accomplish individualized goals within a therapeutic relationship by a credentialed professional who has completed an approved music therapy program.”
Music therapy is an evidence-based addition to your treatment plan. Utilizing music to foster self-connection and drive to change while navigating sober life is safe and effective. Both actively creating music and listening to it have been demonstrated to stimulate the dopaminergic pathways in a manner comparable to that of many illegal drugs. This reaction could lessen cravings and lift your spirits. Additionally, listening to music reduces anxiety and soothes the parasympathetic nervous system, which promotes relaxation.
Music is one of the longest standing self prescribed therapy in history.
-Erin Seibert, Music therapist
Music therapy has powerful effects. When working with a board-certified music therapist, they help you manage your symptoms. By taking a compassionate and non judgemental approach, your music therapist encourages self-expression through the kind of music that you relate to. You might play music, listen to music, or learn a musical instrument when in therapy.
Examples of Music Therapy Exercises
Music therapy can improve communication skills, slow heart rate, improve motor skills, and increase self-esteem. While there is no specific type of music you should listen to or play, lean toward music that makes you feel good. At Absolute Awakenings in New Jersey we use music therapy to improve mental, emotional, and physical health in people with addiction and other mental health disorders.
Popular music therapy activities are listed below.
Music meditation is great for young adults and adolescents. It’s often used in yoga retreats and treatment centers where music therapy is encouraged. To get started, listen to music and close your eyes. Focus on the sounds, lyrics, and message.
Ask the others to guess which it is. When guessed right, the group sings the song together.
When listening to a piece of music, sometimes your thoughts might whirl around in your brain. Memories, flashbacks, and plans for the future may arise. You might simply just feel good listening.
Play your favorite album or piece of music and pick up a pen and paper. For the duration of the song or album, write continuously. Get everything out of your head and release it.
Once you finish, feel free to file it away or burn it as an extension of that release.
This exercise combines music therapy with art therapy. It’s best for instrumental music as to not influence the flow of thoughts that arise while listening.
Start by collecting your materials. You’ll need a blank canvas, paper, or even cardboard — whatever you have on hand. Gather paintbrushes and paint.
Play your selected music and begin to paint what you hear. Can you imagine shapes in the music? Do certain colors coincide with the notes you hear?
Use your paint brushes, hands, feet — whatever to get your interpretation out.
the lifelong benefits music has for healing the soul
How Can Music Therapy in New Jersey Help with Addiction & Mental Health
We have known the power of music since the dawn of time. Music calms the mind and is a known treatment for many forms of mental health conditions. The rise of music therapy programs shows us that the benefits of music therapy increase well-being. Here are some of the advantages and effects of music therapy:
Listening to music reduces stress chemicals like cortisol and adrenaline which contribute to feelings of anxiety. When someone listens to music their anxiety tends to lessen.
Music therapy encourages self expression in multiple ways. The first of which are evident when giving the patient autonomy over what kind of music they’d like to listen to during a session. When given an exercise on songwriting, the feelings and state of mind of the writer becomes apparent.
Although music therapy cannot be used solely to treat depression, it can have a positive impact in the short term by enhancing mood and fostering connection and self-expression which can improve the quality of psychotherapy sessions following music therapy.
Like music therapy for depression, using this form of therapy for schizophrenia produces similar effects. In a Turkish study, patients who were subjected to music therapy felt more relaxed, at peace, and experienced less audio hallucinations.
Those with Alzheimer’s benefit from this form of therapy by being able to link music to a memorable event. It accomplishes this by recalling specific feelings that become associated with earlier memories. Additionally, it can aid in fostering memories of close relationships.
A person with Alzheimer’s disease may still be able to tap their foot or sing the words to a song they remember from their youth. Listening to music also helps with behavioral problems that often result from Alzheimer’s.
Nursing homes often use music therapy to elevate residents’ moods and improve memory.
Who Can Music Therapy Help?
When attending regular music therapy sessions and music therapy interventions, a significant difference is evident in the quality of life for those who participate. Music therapy helps sufferers of substance abuse and those struggling with mental health. Music therapy also has positive effects on people with anxiety and trauma disorders like PTSD.
Music therapy for mental health is the perfect treatment companion as music can be associated with good memories. Music listening may also help individuals face difficult memories and assist in processing emotions surrounding certain events.
We Accept With Most Major Insurance
If you or a loved one is ready to get help but finances are holding you back, give us a call. We can work with your health insurance provider.
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A jewel among many local drug and alcohol rehab treatment centers in Denville, New Jersey, the care and treatment options you’ll receive at Absolute Awakenings Treatment Center is second to none. From not knowing if you’ll ever feel in control again to being confident in the path you’re on, we are invested in YOU every step of the way.
Answers to Common Questions About Music Therapy in NJ
Music Therapy FAQs
Music therapists are highly qualified, board-certified professionals who assist a wide range of people in managing pain, reducing stress, expressing emotions, improving memory, and communication. Using music improvisation, reactive music listening, song creation, lyric discussion, and other techniques, they create music sessions for individuals and groups based on client needs. Certification is granted through the certification board for music therapists.
There is no such thing as a typical music therapy session because music therapy caters to a diverse range of people who have different needs. Sessions are created and music is chosen in accordance with each client’s unique treatment plan
Participating in a music-based intervention session combines the therapeutic benefits of a therapy session with the benefits of listening to and interacting with music, as opposed to merely listening to music or playing an instrument, which anyone may do on their own.
You do not need to know how to play an instrument to attend music therapy or receive the benefits of attending music therapy.
learn to move to the rhythm of life
Enjoy Recovery with the Soothing Healing Powers of Music Therapy in NJ
Life has ups and downs. You don’t need to stay down for long. At Absolute Awakenings, our staff believes the use of music in therapeutic sessions increases the effectiveness of other therapies coinciding with it. If you are struggling with addiction or mental health illness, reach out to us today to talk about treatment options that include the use of music therapy at our New Jersey location.
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