The researchers measured symptoms of schizophrenia and found that improvements were greater among those people receiving music therapy than among those receiving standard care alone. Referral for music therapy was associated with reductions in general symptoms, such as depression and anxiety, and the negative symptoms of schizophrenia, such as emotional withdrawal. However, the authors caution that because this was a small study, it is possible that other factors, such as severity of illness, may have influenced the study's findings.Dr Mike Crawford, from the Department of Psychological Medicine at Imperial College London and lead author of the study, said: "We have known for some time that psychological treatments can help people with schizophrenia, but these have only been used when people are fairly stable. This study shows that music therapy provides a way of working with people when they are acutely unwell."At such times patients may find it difficult to express themselves using words, but through the skill of the therapist it may be possible to help people interact through music in a way that is constructive, creative and enjoyable," he added.Music therapy is a non-invasive therapeutic approach that uses musical interaction as a means of communication and expression. It can help address issues that they can't use words to express. For those who are acutely unwell, music therapy helps improve global state, mental state, and aids in social and developmental functioning. It's setting a non threatening environment for others to foster a working relationship, and in turn, work towards their specific individual goals. Perception, interpretation and production of music linked to language, emotion, cognitive function and social communication in everyday life. There is close association between musical ability and cognitive function, recent studies show that you can became amusical- that is, inability to process pitch, a musical deficit, through illness, and improvement in musical deficit is linked to recovery of verbal learning, visual spatial perception and attention. Helps them regulate emotionsExpress themselves through song writingExplore instruments together, even learning how to learn playWe get a lot of enquires about music lessons, which can become part of the therapy process. We do a lot of drumming exercises, because there's something about rhythm being a basic element in music that is so intrinsic and natural to humans. Making music together, could be through singing or playing, but there is that social aspect of music that can help bond people. I met this one girl, she was clinical depressed and diagnosed with schizophrenia. She would throw really big tantrums, kick nurses and fly into violent rages, destroying furnitures and anything that she can get her hands on... but she would never throw the guitar, which we lent her to practice on. She would learn basic chords and really focus on getting it right. It helps regulate her behavior, it helps her find a focal point, something she can concentrate on. We also built a really firm working relationship, which, in her case, was a big thing because she was wary of everyone, suspicious, kept thinking everyone was out to get her, but with me, she would openly talk about everything, and we would write songs together at the piano. The good thing about music therapy is that it doesn't require you to have any prior knowledge of music. This girl, she couldn't sing in pitch at all. Her rhythm was highly irregular, but that's ok. If her beating on the drum is chaotic, music therapy can help her regulate. If her singing is off-pitch, having someone singing along with her, or someone making music with her, can help her control her pitch. Martin Buber, who was a philosopher, had this amazing quote. He said "when someone is singing and cannot lift their voice, and another comes and sings with them, another who can lift their voice, the first will be able to lift their voice too." So I guess music therapy is this platform where client and therapist are on a pretty much similar level and music is this overarching tool which we use to communicate and reach out to the musicality that is in pretty much everyone.