Chennai School of Music Therapy to create online content to teach public to use music for better health

Chennai School of Music Therapy (CSMT), the Chennai-based music therapy training, consulting, and clinical services institute, is launching “Dhvani”, a series of podcasts and videos on music and health, to help create awareness about the science behind the application of music for health and self-care.

These online resources also aim to equip the general public as well as music therapy professionals to use music in the prevention, treatment, and rehabilitation of diseases, especially the lifestyle diseases that are caused by stress. Talking about Dhvani, Dr Sumathy Sundar, Director, CSMT, said, “We relate music mostly with entertainment. However, it has the potential to heal. The objective of Dhvani is to explain the scientific basis to understand the relationship between music and health. As opposed to what we think, health is not just the absence of diseases. It is also about mental health and good relationships and leading a stress-free life. And music is not just for entertainment but it can be used to create multi-sensory stimulation, and brain activation for better health outcomes.”

Dhvani podcasts and videos will present the science, and also demonstrate various activities around music, other than listening to it, to achieve the targeted body, mind, soul responses - and flowering of relationships. The recommended practices can be done with minimal resources like music players, mobile phones with audio players, and radio. Dhvani resources will be available in English.

A team of trained and certified music therapy professionals and researchers, headed by Dr Sumathy Sundar, will create content at regular periodicity. On the recently passed World Music Day, observed every year on June 21, CSMT has released exclusive posters for adults and children, explaining the potential, types of, and activities around music to relax body, mind, and soul; and improve relationships.

The organisation has also conducted a webinar titled, Music for Health and Self-Care, on the same day that attracted global participation. The webinar was chaired by Dr Sumathy Sundar, Director, CSMT, who delivered an address on “Music and the Soul”. The webinar had Dr B Sivaprakash, Professor and Head, Department of Psychiatry, Mahatma Gandhi Medical College and Research Institute (MGMCRI), Puducherry, as the keynote speaker.

Dr Baishali Mukherjee, Faculty, and Research Associate, CSMT, spoke on Music and the Mind. An experiential session on Singing for Healing was conducted by Mr Vikram Kannan, Music Therapist, TTK Addiction Centre. Dr Anasuya Ravikanti, Director, Swarajeevani Centre for Music Therapy, Hyderabad, spoke about Music for Relaxation.