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Music Therapy for Treating Addiction: What Are Its Advantages and Limitations?

Music Therapy

Music Therapy

You may know about music therapy, or perhaps you don’t know the concept. Some medical professionals swear by it, though. They can point to various clinical examples where it has helped people.

If you need treatment for addiction, it may turn out to be something that you want to look into seriously. You can find clinics where you can undergo this kind of therapy, but first, we should ensure you know about some of the advantages and limitations. We’ll discuss both in turn.

What Exactly is Music Therapy?

First, let’s give you a music therapy definition so you know what we mean. Music therapy means music as an intervention method if you’re struggling in some way. Some clinicians have seen positive effects if they treat patients with music.

You might undergo music therapy if you have substance abuse issues. You may try it if you have anger management problems. Some individuals who have received an autism diagnosis also use it.

What Are Some of Its Advantages?

If you undertake a music therapy treatment course, or if you just give it a try to see whether it can help you, one of the main advantages is that you’re not treating your condition with drugs.

There are some individuals with no issue ingesting substances to get a problematic or troublesome condition under control. Others would prefer other treatments before resorting to chemicals, though.

Music therapy is gentle. If you undertake it, it’s usually as simple as listening to calming music in a peaceful setting.

As such, it’s very noninvasive, and some people like that. Also, it has a very good proven track record of success for a number of different conditions. It’s hard to argue with the results.

What About Some Notable Disadvantages?

Music therapy does have its detractors. Many times, if you have someone who doesn’t like music therapy, that’s because it didn’t work for them.

Even though we mentioned this treatment course having a good track record, it’s not as though these kinds of treatments work for everyone. Of course, that’s true with virtually any type of therapy that you can try. No treatment has a 100% success rate.

Some individuals also feel that music therapy is basically a way of inducing a placebo effect. They might try it, but they feel that it’s not effective, and so they may badmouth it for that reason.

Even though it has been a positive in the lives of many, if you try it and aren’t willing to give it a fair chance, it’s more likely that it won’t have the healing effects that your doctor or therapist hopes. You can say that about many kinds of clinical treatment, but for something like music therapy, there’s more of a chance of this drawback.

It has been pretty well established that patients who are more willing to give this kind of treatment a chance are more likely to see some actual benefits from it. Still, even if you’re skeptical, it’s well worth a try.