To mark World Music Day on October 1, we'll tell you about a relatively new form of psychotherapy — music therapy.

Music and the human psyche

What is music therapy?

  1. A psychotherapeutic approach in which music and music-making are used to deliberately mediate the body–mind–emotion connection in the process of experiencing and gaining awareness, with the aim of supporting positive change, healing, and personal growth.
  2. It is delivered by a qualified music therapist and takes on its specific direction depending on the theoretical and conceptual orientation of the relevant psychotherapy school.

Music therapy is a scientific discipline that uses the core characteristics and qualities of music or musical pieces in clinical rehabilitation or in psychological work for therapeutic purposes.

Music is considered a universal language that affects the brain in a unique way, stimulating multiple regions in both hemispheres. For exactly this reason, music can be used as an accompanying therapeutic method. The effect lies in the fact that music can induce a wide range of emotions (joy, anxiety, fear, distress) while simultaneously activating large areas across all lobes of the cerebral cortex. It is the only sensory stimulus that instantly engages the entire brain.

Get to know the organization that represents this interesting therapeutic format in Bulgaria: the Bulgarian Association for Music Therapy. It was founded in the spring of 1995 in Sofia. The idea was inspired by Prof. Joseph Moreno and a group of specialists from various professions, energized by a macro-seminar Prof. Moreno held and convinced of the potential of psychological work through music.
BAM's ranks include professionals from a range of fields: musicians, music educators, experts from the helping professions — psychologists, social workers, speech therapists, doctors, and other healthcare professionals. BAM is a member of the European Music Therapy Confederation and of the Bulgarian Association for Psychotherapy.
From its founding to date, BAM has held three national music therapy conferences — in 2005, 2007, and 2012, the last with international participation — as well as smaller-format regular professional gatherings. BAM's publications to date include two books and one volume of proceedings:

  • "Acting Out the Music Within You. Music Psychodrama" (2006) by Joseph Moreno.
  • Proceedings of the Second National Music Therapy Conference (2007), edited by Nadya Vitanova, Mary Gorinova, and Angel Tomov.
  • "Sadness in the Heart. Music Therapy and Psychodrama" by Heidi Fausch (2011).
    In 2004, BAM was admitted into the family of the European Music Therapy Confederation, with Liliya Ahtarova as representative; from the beginning of 2015, Teodosi Tsingilev took over as the Bulgarian representative.
    On November 15, 2014, together with the rest of Europe, the European Music Therapy Day was observed for the first time.
    You can find upcoming events in the field of music therapy HERE.