Whether it's art and music therapy or art and music as therapy, it calms traumatized teens

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Music and art are increasingly being used as tools for therapy for high school students who have faced trauma — from sexual abuse to homelessness — and have been proven to help students cope, both physically and psychologically.

Studies have shown that participating in music and art can alleviate pain, help people manage stress, promote wellness, enhance memory, improve communications, aide physical rehabilitation, and give people a way to express their feelings.

“We have a lot of kids who come from really traumatic backgrounds… and some days it’s just trying to keep them from fighting one another,” said Katie Meyers, a clinician at Levine School of Music and an associate professor at Howard University in Washington. “The really cool thing about music therapy, for me, is that students relate to music and enjoy music. I’ve seen that keep really dangerous things from happening or escalating.” 

Music therapy seems to work very well with those suffering from mental health disorders such as depression and anxiety. It’s often used in therapy with patients on the autism spectrum, and in physical rehabilitation for people who suffer from neurodegenerative diseases like Parkinson or Alzheimer’s.

Music has the same effect on the brain as the smell of lavender and chamomile, which produce “feel-good” chemicals like dopamine. A 2011 study conducted by researchers from McGill University in Montreal found that music plays a significant role in causing a good mood. It showed that dopamine levels were 9% higher in participants who had listened to music they enjoyed. 

There’s a lot of research that shows the relationship between music and its ability to alter moods,” said Meyers. 

But spending in public schools on arts and music education has been flat for a decade, particularly in low-income schools. In fact, 40% of secondary public schools didn’t require the study of arts or music for graduation in the 2009-10 school year, according to a study by the National Center for Education Statistics, part of the Department of Education. 

What makes things worse is the “equity gap." Within the school system there are “high-poverty” and “low-poverty” schools, the study found. Higher poverty schools have even less funding than the low poverty — or wealthier — schools. 

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