Music Therapy is the interpersonal process in which the therapist uses music and all of its facets—physical, emotional, mental, social, aesthetic, and spiritual—to help clients to improve or maintain their health. T client’s needs are addressed directly through music. Music therapy is used with individuals of all ages and with a variety of conditions, including: psychiatric disorders, medical problems, physical handicaps, sensory impairments, developmental disabilities, substance abuse, communication disorders, interpersonal problems, and aging. It is also used to: improve learning, build self-esteem, reduce stress, support physical exercise and facilitate a host of other health-related activities.
One of the earliest mentions of Music Therapy was in A.Frabis'(c. 872 – 950) Meanings of the Intellect, which described the soothing effects of music on the sou. Music has long been used to help people deal with their emotions. In the 17th century, the scholar Robert Burton’s The Anatomy of Melancholy argued that music and dance were critical in treating Mental Illness He noted that music has an “excellent power …to expel many other diseases” and he called it “a sovereign remedy against despair and melancholy, makes a melancholy man merry, …a lover more enamoured, a religious man more devout.”