How Music Therapy Can Support People with Cancer and Manage Anxiety 

A cancer diagnosis can bring many changes at once. It can be overwhelming and stressful. While medical treatments focus on the disease, supportive care programs like music therapy can help address the mind and body needs during treatment. 

What is music therapy? How does music therapy help cancer patients? 

Music therapy is a clinically established mind-body therapy. It uses music-based interventions to address the physical, emotional, social, and spiritual needs of cancer patients and survivors. While music therapy does not treat cancer, it serves as a powerful supportive care tool alongside standard medical treatments like surgery and chemotherapy to enhance overall quality of life.

Types of music therapy for cancer patients

Music therapy is divided into two primary categories based on what people do while listening to music. They can take an active role, or a receptive role:

Active or interactive music therapy: In this form, patients are directly engaged in creating or responding to music. Common techniques include:

• Singing or participating in songwriting to process difficult emotions.
• Instrumental improvisation or playing portable instruments at the bedside to foster a sense of control.
• Movement and dancing to regain physical range of motion and boost energy.

Receptive (passive) music therapy: This type involves the patient listening to live or recorded music specifically chosen to elicit positive emotional or physiological responses. Techniques include:

• Listening to your favorite songs to deflect attention from treatment-related discomfort.
• Use music-assisted relaxation and guided imagery to help reduce stress and induce a calm, meditative state. One example is using virtual reality. 
• Lyric analysis where patients and therapists discuss song meanings to explore psychological or spiritual distress.

How does music therapy work? 

When music therapy is used with traditional medications for anemia and cancer,it can help reduce nausea, vomiting, and physical tension caused by chemotherapy and radiation. This is because music is proven to reduce anxiety, depression, and feelings of isolation. 

Recent research has even shown that music therapy can be as effective as cognitive behavioral therapy (cbt) for long-term anxiety management in survivors.

Studies indicate that both children and adults experience significantly improved pain perception and reduced need for pain medications after music therapy sessions.

Music also helps people connect in a spiritual and emotional way. It can provide a sense of peace and comfort, often incorporating spiritually relevant music that facilitates shared meaningful moments for families.

New tools, such as specialized music software, are being developed to help survivors manage "brain fog" or cognitive challenges following treatment.

Using music therapy in hospital settings

One example of programs that have used music therapy specific programs is "music and movement therapy" for breast cancer survivors. This program helps patients regain physical range of motion while providing emotional support to boost energy and recovery. And at the same time, promoting social interaction and a sense of community. 

Music therapy versus cognitive behavioral therapy for anxiety

While cognitive behavioral therapy (cbt) is considered the gold standard for treating anxiety in cancer patients, a recent telehealth-based randomized clinical trial evaluated whether music therapy could be a comparably helpful. The study followed 300 patients over 26 weeks, delivering weekly sessions of either music therapy or CBT via zoom.

The study found that music therapy helped reduce anxiety in similar ways to cbt for both short-term (week 8) and long-term (week 26). Both therapies resulted in similar improvements in secondary outcomes such as depression, fatigue, insomnia, and quality of life.

The main impact in this study is that both measures could be managed remotely. This reduces the transportation burden in people who seek support. And expanded the access for those who may face barriers to in-person care or feel a stigma toward traditional mental health services.

Learning more about alternatives that are backed by clinical studies can help you find the best option that fits your needs

Music therapy can help support a patient's spiritual, social, and physical well-being. While it does not treat the cancer itself, it significantly impacts a patient’s mood and their ability to cope with common side effects of medical treatment. 

Clinical evidence now suggests that music therapy can be just as effective as traditional cognitive behavioral therapy for managing anxiety. As these standardized protocols become more accessible through telehealth, music therapy should be considered a first-line option to expand treatment choices in cancer care.

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Sources: 

• Music therapy versus cognitive behavioral therapy for anxiety in cancer survivors: A telehealth-based randomized clinical trial.
• Music therapy in supportive cancer care