Caring Minds^2:
Teenage mental health Support
Multi-sensory therapy
Nowadays, innovative means of mental health therapy are gradually emerging. Apart from medication and psychotherapy, the term "multisensory therapy" came to our mind. Here, we present you with a brief introduction to common multisensory therapies in psychiatric care.
We have five senses: sight, smell, hearing, touch, and taste. When some of these senses are fully engaged, positive psychotherapeutic results can be achieved. Having higher exposure to green visuals, for example, will lead to higher happiness and lower psychological anxiety. Similarly, touch, especially interpersonal touch, represents attention, friendliness, and love, which can enhance the emotional connection between people and reduce their psychological stress. As for taste, the intake of sweet and spicy foods will increase people's psychological stress to a certain extent.
Music Therapy
In light of the recent rise of music therapy as a psychological treatment method, medical workers are able to employ more diversified treatments when facing these mental health conditions. So, what is music therapy, how is it carried out, and to what extent is it effective?
A BRIEF HISTORY AND DEFINITION
While the rise of music therapy can date back to the early 20th century, using music as a method to ease one’s grief has long been practiced since the time of David and King Saul. However, it was not until the 1970s that the first large-scale organization dedicated to music therapy, the American Music Therapy Association, was established.
As defined by AMTA, music therapy is the clinical and evidence-based use of music interventions to accomplish individualized goals within a therapeutic relationship by a credentialed professional. Music therapists recognize that music can be utilized as a regulating or calming agent for anxiety or for dysregulation.
TECHNIQUES AND PROCEDURES
Prevailing techniques of music therapy mainly focus on analyzing lyrics, gaining a positive mood from listening to music, and getting mental satisfaction from improvisational music playing.
Music Interaction 👆
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Lyric Analysis: guided by a therapist, the patient offers insightful themes from lyrics and connects them to their own life and their stressful situation. It is a less threatening approach compared to talk analysis, in which a therapist is bound to make a person directly speak about topics that may be difficult to discuss. Instead, using music as a medium of discussion can make the patient more willing to express themselves.
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Music Listening: studies have found that, with its rhythmic and repetitive aspects, music actively engages in the neocortex of our brain, which can thus calm us and alter our mood. Example: many music therapists are especially fond of 50-150 hertz pure sine wave audio recordings. These pieces are like “brain massage”, easing headaches and physical stress.
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Nordoff-Robbins music therapy: also called “creative music therapy”, this method encourages patients to play an instrument while the therapist accompanies the patient with another instrument, enabling the patient’s willingness to express themselves.
4. Music Improvisation: for those with instrumental talents, improvising on an instrument can encourage emotional expressions and socialization through physical motion and the simple pleasure of creating satisfying rhythms and melodies. Generally speaking, percussion and keyboard instruments are the most popular choices in music therapy.
5.Music Interaction: Compared to other psychotherapeutic forms, it allows for the emergence of various modes of mutual interaction, thus enabling multiple channels for emotional expression and fostering therapeutic alliance. However, computational analysis of clinical improvisations is still a marginal field in music therapy research. Musical improvisations were created using two identical digital pianos placed opposite to each other, one for the client, and another one for the therapist. In addition, both improvisers had a djembe drum placed next to the piano. No other musical instruments were used. Pro Tools sequencer software was used for recording the improvisations and controlled by the therapist.
EFFECTIVENESS
Studies have demonstrated that music therapy is effective in treating depression when it is combined with other common treatments (e.g., antidepressants). Furthermore, music therapy is widely regarded as an easily accessible and also highly efficient treatment of insomnia. A specific kind of music therapy called the five-element music therapy is even shown to be effective in increasing the Karnofsky performance status of cancer patients.
*1: Karnofsky performance status (KPS) is a method used to evaluate the quality of life and physical condition for patients showing significant improvement after treatment with lentinan.
Many music therapists are especially fond of 50-150 hertz pure sine wave audio recordings. These pieces are like "brain massage", easing headaches and physical stress. Scan the QR code and try it yourself!
Aromatherapy
The sensitivity of human beings to the sense of smell has been manifested from ancient times to the present day. Aromatherapy uses the essential oils from plants and functions as a complementary health approach.
In our exhibition, five different floral and fruity elements are chosen to be configured in different proportions, each with different degrees and aspects of efficacy.
Our team actually exhibited the 5 kinds of perfumes for our visitors to try out aromatherapy.