SUBSTANCE ABUSE & ADDICTION
Research indicates that individuals prone to addiction do not create
as much dopamine as the average person, which leads them to
further extremes to achieve a high. Additional research has high-
lighted that men and women who deal with addiction also possibly
suffer from previous traumatisation.
Individuals susceptible to substance abuse are also often high
achievers, lovers of risks and thrills, and enjoy diving head first into
passions with an exuberant amount of fervor to obtain the satisfac-
tion they crave on psychological and biochemical levels.
This is the tightrope that musicians walk. Passion and desire
can’t be turned on and off like a switch in order to benefit your
work but not become harmful to your health and wellbeing. You
would have to be living under a rock these days to have not seen
the videos and articles that tell us things like: “Science Shows How
Musicians’ Brains Are Different From Everybody Else’s.” Musicians
have high-functioning brains and we push ourselves, striving to
write and perform and perfect our craft tirelessly; however, addic-
tion often gets its foot in the door when an individual has environ-
mental, psychological, and/or emotional issues within their life.
Musicians are also sensitive and highly emotive men and wom-
en. If addiction or substance abuse becomes prevalent in a musi-
cian’s life, connecting and engaging on our own level is critically im-
portant to inspire movement towards a healthier self. Deciding and
accepting that you might need help will inevitably put you in a state
of chaos. At this crucial moment, creative therapeutic methods are
going to feel like home. Music therapy is used as a powerful tool to
encourage people to act and show their coping strategies, without
being aware of doing so. Music therapy addresses the underlying
psychological and social problems of addiction and touches on feel-
ings of longing and craving, pain and pleasure.
A specific technique in music therapy, called “cue exposure,”
takes the assumption that some musical styles provoke the same
stimulus as certain substances because individuals listened to or
were playing this music while using substances. Music therapy pro-
vides a safe clinical environment to experiment with the music used
during substance abuse, to raise awareness about this link and then
experiment with alternative music and forms of active music ex-
pression to facilitate subsequent emotions. The neurologic effects
of that improvised and created music is then used to motivate indi-
viduals to block a triggering of the old neurologic paths.
A lack of motivation is one of the major pitfalls during the ma-
jority of addiction and substance abuse treatment. Music therapy
GET MORE INFO
Wanting further information about music therapy in Canada?
These organizations can get you started, depending on where
you live in our beautiful country:
Canadian Association for Music Therapy (CAMT) –
www.musictherapy.ca
Association Québécoise de musicothérapie –
www.musictherapieaqm.org/en
Music Therapy Association of Ontario (MTAO) –
www.musictherapyontario.com
Music Therapy Association of British Colombia –
www.mtabc.com
Atlantic Music Therapy Association –
www.atlanticmusictherapy.ca
has the advantage of being a non-verbal treatment modality, which
seems to preserve the motivation of most clients, even during in-
tense moments of confrontation.
Overall, music therapy offers important possibilities to improve
and develop coping strategies. It is well suited to address the moti-
vational, social, and psychological components of addiction disor-
ders. Music affects the neurological system and is, by virtue of its
action-oriented nature, the ideal experimental setting to practice
coping, interaction, communication, and the expression of emo-
tions. Playing music forces individuals to act. In this action, many
coping styles become visible and audible, and alternate coping
strategies are created and implemented.
Amy Di Nino is a Music
Therapist, musician,
conductor, and Registered
Psychotherapist (RP). She
is the leading lady of ADD
Music Wellness, which
offers a wide variety of
clinical music therapy
services and wellness
programs throughout
Southern Ontario. Amy
is also the drummer of
Dundas, ON-based Cootes
Paradise, who have just
released their self-titled
debut album.
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