4 Benefits of Music Therapy for Drug and Alcohol Addiction

How Does Addiction Treatment Use Music Therapy?

Music therapy for drug and alcohol addiction involves using music in various forms guided by a qualified therapist. This individualized approach to the treatment of addicts starts with the establishment of treatment goals. Treatment plans for music therapy may include creating music or just listening to the art form. For some individuals, learning to play an instrument is the best form of music therapy. For others, it may be learning how to write, record, or produce music. But even just listening to music, perhaps singing along or creating lyrics, can be enough. What matters the most during music therapy is that the individual engages with the content to work towards their treatment goals.

What are the benefits of using music therapy for drug and alcohol addiction?

Music therapy has long been used for the treatment of various health and psychological conditions. Documented benefits include:

• Reduction of stress through the encouragement of the relaxation response
• Lowering of blood pressure
• Lessening of depression symptoms
• Improvement of communication abilities
• Better coping with anxiety
• Creation of a meditative state in the listener
• Improvement of concentration
• Enhancement of optimism
• Boost of the immune system
• Reduction of muscle tension
• Better coping with pain
• Reduction of loneliness
• Reduces boredom
• Increase in spirituality
• Release of emotions
• Aid in overcoming addictions

While music therapy is not enough to fully treat addiction by itself, individuals struggling with substance use disorder still benefit from music therapy. Some of these benefits include:

• The creation of music helps purge negative emotions
• Music reduces stress, in turn helping to prevent relapse
• Boredom relief toward reduction of that trigger for drug use
• Alleviation of loneliness inherent in recovery
• Music can introduce addicts to meditation as a coping tool
• Listening to music helps improve concentration, a casualty of drug addiction that must be regained
• Music alleviates depression associated with the recovery