“Music As Medicine for Posttraumatic

Stress” Researching and Exploring how

Music can be Exceptionally Useful in
Treating Trauma
Ezekiel Wang
ezqwang@gmail.com
12848313
WRDS 150A 002
Dr. M Gillian Carrabre
USU. How PTSD affects brain “circuitry”. Illustration. 2017 JB Music Therapy. Music is everywhere. Illustration. 2021

“One Good Thing About Music Is When It Hits You, You feel No
Pain.” – Bob Marley1

Nora Landis-Shack, Adrienne J. Heinz, and Marcel O. Bonn-Miller, “Music Therapy for Posttraumatic Stress in Adults: A Theoretical Review.,”
1

Psychomusicology: Music, Mind, and Brain 27, no. 4 (2017): 334.

Background on Posttraumatic Stress Disorder
(PTSD)
 PTSD frequently begins quickly after the traumatic event or events,
although some people (about one in five) report symptoms that appear
years later.2

 PTSD can emerge in both direct or secondhand encounters with

trauma.3

2
David C. Rubin, Adriel Boals, and Dorthe Berntsen, “Memory in Posttraumatic Stress Disorder: Properties of Voluntary and Involuntary,
Traumatic and Nontraumatic Autobiographical Memories in People with and without Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Symptoms.,” Journal of
Experimental Psychology: General 137, no. 4 (2008): 593
3
Rubin et al., Memory in Posttraumatic Stress Disorder. 593-595
Background on Posttraumatic
Stress Disorder (PTSD)
continued

  PTSD symptoms may be divided

into three categories: intrusion,
avoidance, and hyper-arousal.4

Alison, Czinkota. Signs of PTSD in Children and Teens. .nd. Photograph

Rubin et al., Memory in Posttraumatic Stress Disorder. 591-595

4
Literature Review

 Music therapy was originally

developed as a trauma reaction to help
in the recovery of World War II
veterans.5

 PTSD is not exclusive to veterans,

anyone who had experienced or
witnessed abuse is likely to suffer from
PTSD as a result. This is especially
common in children as well.6
Sullivan. The 403rd WAC ASF BAND. 2007

5
Peregrine Horden, Music as Medicine: The History of Music Therapy since Antiquity (Routledge, 2017).
6
Rivka Felsenstein, “From Uprooting to Replanting: On Post-Trauma Group Music Therapy for Pre-School Children,” Nordic Journal of Music
Therapy 22, no. 1 (2013): 69-85.
 Literature Review Continued

 PTSD Exposure therapy, cognitive therapy and EMDR only never found consistent
results.7

 Music Therapy was proven to be more approachable and stigma-free. 8

 Traumatic stress can frequently have a "silencing" effect on victims, leading to a loss of
expressive abilities. Which is why the Non-Verbal treatment in Music Therapy is so
important.9

Additional Source: States News Service. U.S. MARINE VETERAN AND FROST SCHOOL OF MUSIC GRADUATE TO TREAT PTSD WITH
MUSIC THERAPY AT THE MIAMI VA HEALTHCARE SYSTEM. May 2017.

7
Landis-Shack et al. “Music Therapy for Posttraumatic Stress in Adults.” 335-336.
8
Ibid., 336
9
Rivka Felsenstein, “From Uprooting to Replanting: On Post-Trauma Group Music Therapy for Pre-School Children,” Nordic Journal of Music
Therapy 22, no. 1 (2013): 69-71
 Thesis

With the many Non-Verbal methods that Music Therapy offers,

I argue that treating PTSD with Music Therapy can be
exceptionally useful in treating victims of trauma.
 Roadmap
 The role of music in the treatment of PTSD will be seen throughout.

 Music Therapy treatment for veterans.

 How drumming was able to help Post-Traumatic Soldiers.

 Music Therapy treatment for Children.

 The importance of Non-Verbal treatments will also be present throughout.

PTSD treatments for Victims of War using
Music Therapy
 27% and 29% of World War II veterans have disclosed that they have PTSD10

 Estimations of undiagnosed PTSD veterans may reach another 31% 11

 Combat stress and PTSD12

10
Zahava Solomon, “Characteristic Psychiatric Symptomatology of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder in Veterans: A Three Year Follow-Up,”
Psychological Medicine 19, no. 4 (1989): 927-936
11
Zahava Solomon, “Characteristic Psychiatric Symptomatology”
12
Moshe Bensimon, Dorit Amir, and Yuval Wolf, “Drumming through Trauma: Music Therapy with Post-Traumatic Soldiers,” The Arts in
Psychotherapy 35, no. 1 (2008): 34-48
Victims Of War

  With Music Therapy, Veterans

can avoid discussing their
recollections until they are ready
to do so13

Bushatz, Amy. Alaska Music Therapy Program Treats TBI, PTSD. Photograph. Anchorage, November 2017.

M. A. Rorke, “Music and the Wounded of World War II,” Journal of Music Therapy 33, no. 3 (January 1996): 189-207.
 Drumming away Trauma

 “It’s as if you’ll go naked in front of them. Yes! Exactly! As if they saw

everything, so I can tell them all about myself.” 14

Drumming also used for Vietnam War Veterans:

Burt, J. W. “Distant Thunder: Drumming with Vietnam Veterans.” Music Therapy Perspectives 13, no. 2 (1995): 110–12.
https://doi.org/10.1093/mtp/13.2.110
14 . and Yuval Wolf, “Drumming through Trauma: Music Therapy with Post-Traumatic Soldiers,” The Arts in
Moshe Bensimon, Dorit Amir,
Psychotherapy 35, no. 1 (2008): 38
Music Therapy for Children of Trauma

 Children with PTSD are often prone to hyper viligance

 Low Self-esteem

 Isolation

 Inability to trust15

Alan L. Solomon, “American Music Therapy Association,” Oxford Music Online, 2010.
Children of trauma

 “Children connect naturally with music due to its non-verbal

features, a connection that is formed even prior to birth”16

Rivka Felsenstein, “From Uprooting to Replanting.” 69-85.

16
 Singing and
Songwriting

Additional source: Fairchild, Rebecca, and Katrina Skewes

McFerran. “‘Music Is Everything’: Using Collaborative Group
Songwriting as an Arts-Based Method with Children
Experiencing Homelessness and Family Violence.” Nordic
Journal of Music Therapy 28, no. 2 (2018): 88–107.
gustavorezende 

Rivka Felsenstein, “From Uprooting to Replanting.” 69-85.

Jinah Kim, “Effects of Community-Based Group Music Therapy for Children Exposed to Ongoing Child Maltreatment & Poverty in South
Korea: A Block Randomized Controlled Trial,” The Arts in Psychotherapy 54 (2017). 69-77,
The significance of the Non-Verbal feature in
Music Therapy
 Music becomes a middle ground

 Releasing emotions17

 Non-intimidating access to traumatic memories18

17
Moshe Bensimon, Dorit Amir, and Yuval Wolf, “Drumming through Trauma: Music Therapy with Post-Traumatic Soldiers,” The Arts in
Psychotherapy 35, no. 1 (2008): 34-45
18
Bolette Daniels Beck et al., “Music Therapy versus Treatment as Usual for Refugees Diagnosed with Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD):
Study Protocol for a Randomized Controlled Trial,” Trials 19, no. 1 (2018)
 Conclusion

 Increasing awareness

 Future Research

 Non-Verbal communication

 Understanding, expressing, and healing

 Bibliography
American Psychiatric Association.Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders: DSM-5 . Washington (D.C.): American Psychiatric Publishing, 2013.
Beck, Bolette Daniels, Steen Teis Lund, Ulf Søgaard, Erik Simonsen, Thomas Christian Tellier, Torben Oluf Cordtz, Gunnar Hellmund Laier, and Torben Moe. “Music Therapy versus Treatment as
Usual for Refugees Diagnosed with Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD): Study Protocol for a Randomized Controlled Trial.” Trials 19, no. 1 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1186/s13063-018-2662-z.
Bensimon, Moshe, Dorit Amir, and Yuval Wolf. “Drumming through Trauma: Music Therapy with Post-Traumatic Soldiers.” The Arts in Psychotherapy 35, no. 1 (2008): 34–48.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aip.2007.09.002.
Burt, J. W. “Distant Thunder: Drumming with Vietnam Veterans.” Music Therapy Perspectives 13, no. 2 (1995): 110–12. https://doi.org/10.1093/mtp/13.2.110.
Felsenstein, Rivka. “From Uprooting to Replanting: On Post-Trauma Group Music Therapy for Pre-School Children.” Nordic Journal of Music Therapy 22, no. 1 (2013): 69–85.
https://doi.org/10.1080/08098131.2012.667824.
Horden, Peregrine. Music as Medicine: The History of Music Therapy since Antiquity. Routledge, 2017.
Kim, Jinah. “Effects of Community-Based Group Music Therapy for Children Exposed to Ongoing Child Maltreatment & Poverty in South Korea: A Block Randomized Controlled Trial.” The Arts
in Psychotherapy 54 (2017): 69–77. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aip.2017.01.001.
Landis-Shack, Nora, Adrienne J. Heinz, and Marcel O. Bonn-Miller. “Music Therapy for Posttraumatic Stress in Adults: A Theoretical Review.” Psychomusicology: Music, Mind, and Brain 27, no. 4
(2017): 334–42. https://doi.org/10.1037/pmu0000192.
Rorke, M. A. “Music and the Wounded of World War II.” Journal of Music Therapy 33, no. 3 (1996): 189–207. https://doi.org/10.1093/jmt/33.3.189.
Rosen, J., R.B. Fields, A.M. Hand, G. Falsettie, and D.P. Van Kammen. “Concurrent Posttraumatic Stress Disorder in Psychogeriatric Patients.” Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry and Neurology 2, no.
2 (1989): 65–69. https://doi.org/10.1177/089198878900200202.
Rubin, David C., Adriel Boals, and Dorthe Berntsen. “Memory in Posttraumatic Stress Disorder: Properties of Voluntary and Involuntary, Traumatic and Nontraumatic Autobiographical Memories in
People with and without Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Symptoms.” Journal of Experimental Psychology: General 137, no. 4 (2008): 591–614. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0013165.
Solomon, Alan L. “American Music Therapy Association.” Oxford Music Online, 2010. https://doi.org/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.a2084787.
Solomon, Zahava. “Characteristic Psychiatric Symptomatology of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder in Veterans: A Three Year Follow-Up.” Psychological Medicine 19, no. 4 (1989): 927–36.
https://doi.org/10.1017/s003329170000564x.
States News Service. U.S. MARINE VETERAN AND FROST SCHOOL OF MUSIC GRADUATE TO TREAT PTSD WITH MUSIC THERAPY AT THE MIAMI VA HEALTHCARE SYSTEM. May
2017.