Music and Your Mental Health

Music is often deeply embedded into our day-to-day lives, and its relevance and integration has stood the test of time and existed for centuries. Engaging with music can either be an independent activity or something you can do with others.  Whether you’re playing instruments, singing in the shower, creating your own tunes, joining a choir/band, or listening to your favourite albums, music often shows up at home and in your community.  

When it comes to mental well-being, engaging with music can support in a variety of different ways, including:  

  • Reducing anxiety and managing stress 
  • Improving mood and emotional regulation 
  • Decreasing pain and increasing comfort 
  • Supporting cognitive and memory processes 
  • Processing trauma  
  • Addressing self-esteem, feelings of success, and empowerment 
  • Strengthening social connections, meaning making, and identity development 

(Alberts et al., 2017; de Witte et al., 2022; Dingle et al., 2021; Gustavson et al., 2021) 

So, what is music therapy?  

Music therapy is a discipline in which Certified Music Therapists (MTAs) use music purposefully within therapeutic relationships to support development, health, and well-being. Music therapists use music safely and ethically to address human needs within cognitive, communicative, emotional, musical, physical, social, and spiritual domains. 

Canadian Association of Music Therapists 
September 2020  

At Curio, Colleen is a dual certified therapist with the Canadian Association of Music Therapists (MTA) since 2017 and with the Canadian Counselling and Psychotherapy Association since 2024. 

In her sessions, Colleen skillfully integrates music when working with adults to support stress, mood, pain management, and self-expression. This can often look like opportunities for listening to music, songwriting, lyric analysis, and potential for instrument play to support your therapeutic process. Colleen is currently only accepting adult clients. For more information, you can visit the Music Therapy Association of Alberta (MTAA) website: https://www.mtaa.ca/skillfully integrates music to  

Who might benefit from music therapy and counselling? 

“When words fail, music speaks” is a famous Hans Christian Anderson quote. For many, a song or piece of music might capture their lived experience and help them connect with their thoughts and feelings. Music and memory are also intimately connected, which means that integrating music into your counselling sessions can assist with emotional processes, increase motivation in treatment, and support telling your story in session.  

For some, they may be interested in learning how to make better use of music to support their social/emotional well-being or may find that creative approaches can help open topics in therapy. Being dual certified, Colleen can integrate music into sessions, though it is not required to work with her. And most importantly, no previous music experience is required. 

Click here to book a consult with Colleen. 

 

References 

Gustavson, D.E., et al. (2021). Mental health and music engagement: review, framework, and guidelines for future studies. Translational Psychiatry,11(370). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41398-021-01483- 

Aalbers, S., et al. (2017). Music therapy for depression. Cochrane Database Systematic Reviews, 11. https://doi.org/10.1002/14651858.cd004517.pub3 

Dingle, G. A., et al. (2021). How do music activities affect health and well-being? A scoping review of studies examining Psychosocial Mechanisms. Frontiers in Psychology, 12. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.713818 

de Witte, M. et al. (2022). Music therapy for stress reduction: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Health psychology review, 16(1), 134–159. https://doi.org/10.1080/17437199.2020.1846580 

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