The American Music Therapy Association - 1529 Words

â€Å"The American Music Therapy Association (AMTA) defines music therapy as ‘an established health profession in which music is used within a therapeutic relationship to address physical, emotional, cognitive, and social needs of individuals’† (Barnett Shale, 2013, p.48). Music Therapy (MT) is shown to be able to help people with many different kinds of mental health problems such as anxiety, stress, and minor cases of depression. There have been many studies done showing that MT is an effective form of therapy that can improve someone’s overall Quality Of Life (QOL). MT is known as an alternative technique therapy. It is often used instead of, or along with, medication to produce a result in the patient who need it. MT involves all†¦show more content†¦According a study done by M. Brunges and G. Avigne, researchers for the Association of Operating Room Nurses (AORN), MT is effective in reducing anxiety in patients before, during, and after majo r and minor surgeries (Brunges Avigne, 2003, p.816-8). Also, music has been found to improve the body s immune system and also it is found to be even more effective than drugs to reduce anxiety. (Novotney, 2013, p.46) This makes it a perfect noninvasive alternative to reduce anxiety. In their study, the researchers used 44 people between the ages of 39 to 81 years old to participate in the study. There were 23 males and 21 females who participated. The participants were then separated into one of two different groups. The control group did not listen to music; the experimental group listened to music for at least thirty minutes before going into surgery. The kind of music that was listened to was not documented in this study. All surgeries were joint replacement surgeries. The researchers measured their results by having the experimental group fill out a survey of how they were feeling afterwards, and also measuring the levels of epinephrine, better known as adrenaline, that was p roduced. This was done by collecting samples of urine