“The human body is the living resonance of the sound” said Hazrat Inyat Khan, a Sufi musician belonging to the early 1920’s.  He felt that sound has an effect on each cell of the body, on all glands, on circulation of blood and pulsation. It is interesting that in recent times, a number of therapists have come to endorse this particular observation of Hazrat Inayat Khan.

Music is basically sound, which is harmonious, melodious and soothing in nature and which is abundantly evident in myriad forms around us.  Music also has the potential to create euphoria, a state of ecstasy, extreme distress and outright pain. As such music, depending on the nature of its delivery and the environment in which it is delivered, connects and communicates with us in different individual ways.  For the therapist, sound as music is a means to an end - a instrument for creating the sensation of hearing, a transmission of controlled energy that is perceived by the ear, processed by the brain and resonates in the body as a symbol of movement.  It is already recognized and has been inducted into the public and private domain where people are singing, playing or listening to derive personal pleasure and entertainment.

Music Therapy has gradually emerged as a potential means of addressing various health related problems in the Wellness area and more specific Medical therapeutic goals. The term Music Therapy as Alternate Medicine often invites interesting debate.  In the current environment of its emergence as a treatment tool, it is however desirable to recognize and encourage Music therapy in the context of hospital, nursing, rejuvenation, rehabilitation and even wellness as Supplementary and Prophylactic Intervention.   It is part of a multi-disciplinary approach, is necessarily client specific and must commence with a preliminary evaluation and a number of specific inputs from the clients’ treatment and support team.  The evaluation helps determine what triggered the trauma, degrees of disabilities and also outlines the therapeutic goals.  Musical interventions are designed, derived, developed and deployed by the therapist based on their knowledge of the music’s affect on behavior, the clients’ strengths and weaknesses and the desired therapeutic goals. 

It is face-to-face, hands-on, one-to-one, where the responses are perceived, seen, felt, monitored, recorded and modified continuously. The few who are seriously practicing Music Therapy in India in a collaborative environment are doing so with conscious restraint and great personal responsibility.