A-Z List


Anxiety & Stress Management

Goals and Methodologies

Music Therapy Activities/Methodologies

  1. Use the Altschuler iso-principle. Meet the patient at his/her level-ex., if agitated, with upbeat, rowdy music and then gradually change the music, making it slower, mellower and softer, bringing the person to a more even level with his/her mood and emotional state.
  2. Involve subject in musical games and riddles to distract him/her with something fun, taking his/her attention off of worrying and placing his/her focus on the activities.
  3. Involve the patient in enjoyable activities in which he/she is able to look past fears and forget about anxieties.
  4. Music relaxation.
  5. Involve subject in a group, musical activity, where the focus is not on any one individual, but is on the group as a whole-for example, singing and/or playing instruments and working at musical quality as a group and as a part of the group.

Music Therapy Problems/Goals/ Activities For Anxiety Disorders

Problem area: Nervousness
Music Therapy Goal: Increase awareness of consequences of feeling nervous
Music Therapy Activity: Musical role playing

Problem area: Cannot cope with nervousness
Music Therapy Goal: Identify and practice new coping problem solving skills
Music Therapy Activity: Different forms of relaxation

Problem area: Tense
Music Therapy Goal: Relaxation
Music Therapy Activity: Make a personalized music stress reduction tape

Problem area: Identify triggers for nervousness
Music Therapy Goal: Redirect away from negitive thinking
Music Therapy Activity: Use song lyrics to redirect thinking

Stress related problem areas:

Stress has major emotional and physiological affects on the body. The stress reaction results from an outpouring of adrenaline, a stimulant hormone, into the blood stream. The result is often called a "fight-or-flight" response simply because it provides the individual with either the strength to stay and fight or the power to run away from the factor that is causing the stress or danger. Some of the related physiological changes include

  • increase in heart rate
  • increase in blood pressure
  • faster breathing
  • tensing of the muscles
  • increased mental alertness
  • increase in blood

Listed next are some common problems associated with stress http://www.mentalhealth.com/mag1/p51-str.html#Head_4

Physical:fatigue, headache, insomnia, muscle aches/stiffness (especially neck, shoulders and low back), heart palpitations, chest pains, abdominal cramps, nausea, trembling, cold extremities, flushing or sweating and frequent colds.

Mental: decrease in concentration and memory, indecisiveness, mind racing or going blank, confusion, loss of sense of humor.

Emotional: anxiety, nervousness, depression, anger, frustration, worry, fear, irritability, impatience, short temper.

Behavioral: pacing, fidgeting, nervous habits (nail-biting, foot-tapping), increased eating, smoking, drinking, crying, yelling, swearing, blaming and even throwing things or hitting.