Music Therapy, Alfredo Zotti

Alfredo has here written a wonderful book on the topic of music therapy and its benefits for a range of emotional difficulties. As a talented musician and appreciator of music of various genres, Alfredo is very familiar with the therapeutic value of music in managing his own emotional state. As a sufferer of Bipolar Disorder, Alfredo has found great solace in the creation of music and appreciation for music.

We can all of us appreciate the power of music to shift our emotional state. Consider your favourite movie moments and the impact of the musical score in bringing on powerful emotions. Many of these scenes simply would not be the same without the power of music behind them. In addition to the impact of music on our emotions, there is also the profound impact that music can have in reigniting old memories and connections in the mind. Consider the last time that you heard a song that immediately took you back 10 or 20 years, with all the emotions connected to these experiences. As Alfredo highlights in this insightful book, a systematic intervention with the use of music can be effective in regulating a range of cognitive and emotional processes, producing therapeutic benefits of many kinds. As a clinical psychologist, I often encourage my clients to have a song or a playlist that they can turn to when dealing with various challenging emotions. I am not a trained music therapist and the use of music was never a part of my clinical training. However, time and again in working with clients I have seen that people will have discovered for themselves the use of music as a self-soothing activity, a means of motivating themselves and a way of improving mood, among many other functions that music can serve. Music therapy brings a more structured and systematic means of harnessing the value of music in people’s emotional health, as Alfredo so effectively captures in this succinct and clear book on the topic. I congratulate Alfredo on this terrific summary of the ways in which music therapy can serve a complementary role in the treatment of a range of psychological difficulties, a book that can be enjoyed by anyone who is interested in promoting his or her wellbeing or the wellbeing of loved ones.

PAUL CORCORAN

Psychologist

Published by Loving Healing Press