It is Time for the CBT Songs: Music as a Medium to Deliver Cognitive Behaviour Therapy

The results of a national poll of listeners to a popular British music station in 2004 suggested that, the best way to ameliorate one's depressive symptoms musically is to listen to ‘I Know It's Over’ by Smiths [1]. This is hardly surprising. We are all aware of the healing power of music. Music therapy groups are popular among staff and the users of psychiatric services, and are often funded by the public health services. In their Cochrane review to find out whether therapeutic use of music is effective in reducing the symptoms of depression, Maratos, et al. [2] found only five studies that met their inclusion criteria. Due to the marked variations in interventions, the populations studied, and the outcome measures, it was not possible to conduct the metaanalysis. However, it was reported that four of these studies reported some improvement in depression among those who received music therapy.