Music as Central Mechanism for Music Therapy in Mental Health

This chapter reviews recent literature of evidence-based music therapy interventions in mental health and suggests that the results of the most current research should inform music therapists how to carry out their music therapy treatment. Articles should for example not be older than 10 years due to the rapid development of treatment relevant to psychiatry. To ensure that input from such recent research outcomes provide an evidence-based music therapy treatment for a client, it firstly should match the unique cultural context of the individual client. Secondly it should be informed by developments in neuroscience and music-psychology. A client benefits most from the music therapy treatment if the music therapist is aware of the working mechanisms of music and how to trigger these mechanisms in their therapy. Rather than placing the therapeutic relation at the core of the treatment, the musical mechanisms that drive the neurologic reactions and trigger mental, social, and emotional development of the client should be at the center of the treatment interventions of the music therapist. This could allow clients with mental health issues to benefit most from music therapy treatment.