MUSIC AS AN AID IN RECOVERY

By Harold Bartko

 

“Music can provide a valuable and effective alternative for self-expression for the client who has difficulty expressing him/herself through verbal dialogue or non-verbal movements.”

            The Creative Use of Music in Group Therapy

                        Tom Plach

 

“Even in its most simple forms, music is evocative of sensations, moods, and emotions.  It can reflect the feeling of the moment or change it by its presence.  It can also increase the actual mood and bring it to a climax.”

                                                                        Music Therapy, Juliette Alvin

 

 

AN EXERCISE IN MUSIC THERAPY:

 

What music do you like to listen to when you are sad?  Angry?  Happy?

When was the last time a song brought a tear to your eye?

What five songs do you most dislike?

If you were to write a song, what would it be about?

What musical instrument best describes how you feel right now?

 

            “Given that most people could answer the above questions, we once again see a potentially valuable resource for evoking feelings, as well as expression of thoughts and feelings.  What evokes feelings in each of us individually with a vehicle for expression certainly has the potential for a similar impact upon a group.”

                                                                        The Creative Use of Music in Group Therapy                            Tom Plach

 

SOME MUSICAL QUOTES:

 

 

“Music alone with sudden charms can build the wand’ring sense, and calm the troubled mind.”  

                                                                        William Congreve

 

“Where the speech of man stops short, then the art of music begins.”

                                                                        Richard Wagner. 1813-1883

 

“Music heard so deeply that it is not heard at all, but you are the music while it lasts.”

                                                                        Eliot

 

“Music hath charms to sooth a savage beast.”

                                                                        James Bramston (?1694-1744)

 

“Music is the art of the prophets, the only art that can calm the agitations of the soul; it is one of the most magnificent and delightful presents God has given us.”

                                                                        Martin Luther (1483-1546)

 

“And music lifted up the listening spirit until it walked, exempt from mortal care, Godlike, o’er the clear billows of sweet sound.”

                                                                        Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792-1822)

 

“When I hear music, I fear no danger.  I am invulnerable.   I see no foe.  I am related to the earliest times, and to the latest.”

                                                                        Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862)

 

Songs:

 

Barber’s “Adagio for Strings” from the soundtrack of the movie “Platoon”.

 

“Poems, Prayers and Promises” by John Denver.