The positive impact of music therapy on wellbeing

Music and music therapy can reach even the most vulnerable people in our society. Mental illness can be very isolating, affecting a person’s personality and thought processes and their ability to express themselves, interact with others and sustain helpful relationships.

By offering a non-verbal means of communication, music therapy can have a positive impact on emotional, physical and social difficulties. For many people, the close musical attention of music therapy may be much more bearable than verbal interaction, giving them an opportunity to experience their capacities for creativity and wellness.

Music therapy is part of the multi-disciplinary approach in many psychiatric services but is also an invaluable dimension of community-based provision, which seeks to help people to keep well and avoid hospital admissions.

This is why Nordoff and Robbins is building the case for music therapy as part of a holistic approach to mental healthcare. Through advocacy and research, we raise awareness of the positive impact of music therapy on mental health and wellbeing. We also provide commissioners and policy makers with clear and rigorous evidence of this impact to demonstrate the need for music therapy services to be sustainably funded.

A 2017 report from The All-Party Parliamentary Group on Arts, Health and Wellbeing recommends that “arts therapies and participatory arts should be included in guidance on school counselling services” and makes clear that the arts can help keep us well, aid our recovery and support longer lives, better lived. It also states that the arts can help meet major challenges facing health and social care, including mental health: “Arts participation helps to overcome anxiety, depression and stress in parents and their children, encouraging bonding and emotional expression.”