Music Therapy History

The history of music therapy is Although music therapy was not considered a profession until the early 1900s, the idea of music acting as a healing stimulus dates back to the times of Aristotle and Plato (“History of music therapy,” n.d.). For example, the ancient Greeks expressed music as having certain healing effects. According to the Bible, David’s playing of his harp gave King Saul comfort as he experienced spiritual oppression. As centuries pass by, the interest in the power of music slowly but truly begins to spark. In the year 1789, the earliest mention of music therapy appears in an article of Columbian Magazine titled “Music Physically Considered.” Mention of the therapeutic value music has appeared in two works in the early 1800s. The first was published by Edwin Atlee in 1804 and the second by Samuel Mathews in 1806.

Benjamin Rush, who strongly believed in using music to treat medical diseases. The first recorded music therapy intervention in an institutional setting, Blackwell’s Island in New York) took place in the 19th century as well. The first recorded experiment involving music therapy was also conducted during this time, specifically in the late 1800s. James Leonard Corning tested the use of music to alter dream states during psychotherapy. The formal profession of music therapy began after World War I and World War II. While an epic population of veterans around the nation were suffering physical, mental, and emotional trauma from the wars, both amateur and professional musicians visited the Veteran hospitals to play music for them. Doctors and nurses began to notice the significant responses the patients gave while listening to the music. Soon enough, they began wanting to hire musicians to continue coming to the facilities. Seeing that the hospital musicians needed training before entering the hospitals, the demand for a college program