Page 93 - MASALA Magazine Vol.15 Issue 4 | April - May 2024

REHMAN Z. MIR, 23
Florida Gulf Coast University
Summer Study Abroad Course
2023, Mahidol Music Therapy
Programme

Music therapy seems to be a
growing field globally. How
popular is music therapy (MT)
in Thailand, compared to your
home country?
In Thailand, I would say music therapy is less known for sure, but
even in the US I rarely ever meet people who know what it is. I
believe the current number of actual certified MTs in the US
is still less than 10,000 despite the rapidly growing market for it.
Can you share some examples of how music therapy can be
used to help people from different cultures or with different
health challenges?
Just like how a lot of medicine/medical procedures are done
similarly in hospitals all over the world, certain MT techniques
and interventions can help people of different cultures as well. One
such intervention I used in Thailand was at Golden Jubilee in the
Physical Rehab ward. We used gait training interventions where we
would walk with a client who was struggling with locomotion, and
we would play a simple strumming pattern alongside a metronome
while slowly increasing the BPM to help them become steadier,
and achieve a quicker and more consistent walking speed.
Can you describe a specific success story you’ve witnessed or
been part of while practicing music therapy?
I would consider this experience, which I also had in Thailand, to
be one of the most personally impactful moments of music therapy.
We had a session in the Palliative Care Unit of Siriraj Hospital
where we gently played music and sang traditional Thai music to
a ptient. Before this session, it was estimated that she only had a
maximum of 72 hours left to live. She could not respond to us at
all, and her two sons were in the room with us.
As we began playing the music and creating our gentle soundscape,
one of the sons got emotional and left, while the other stayed. Our
teacher, Ajarn Khan, invited the son to hold his mother’s hand.
During our time there, the only thing we could hear from the
mother was a light vocalisation whenever she breathed, which
sounded like it was coming from tension in her throat. Towards
the end of the session she continued to breathe, but her breath
was a little slower and there was no more sound, and we took that Are there any cultural misconceptions about music therapy you
to mean that she was able to relax a little.
would like to clear up for our readers?
Once we finished our session and left the room, our teacher and I’m not sure if there are any unique Thai misconceptions regarding
professor were pulled aside. We later learned that the client had music therapy that are different from many American ones; however,
passed away within a few minutes of our leaving. That was a very from my understanding there a lot of similar misconceptions,
powerful moment for me, and by the way the son who stayed looked foremost being that we are simply performers providing music
at us, I believe that was an invaluable moment for him. Music and nothing more. But that could not be further from the truth,
therapy in this type of setting is often used for not just the client, as music therapy takes a lot of practice, study, and trial and error
but for their family too. to learn. Providing therapeutic musical interventions for so many
different populations of clients is truly no easy feat, so I hope to see
Is music therapy readily available in Thailand? What are some our hard work more generally acknowledged! For any of our readers
challenges people might face in accessing it?
I would like to ask that you keep your mind open to the beautiful
In Thailand, I would say the problem is the same as it is in the US, possibilities of music therapy if it’s offered or recommended to
namely, accessibility with a high demand. There simply aren’t enough you or a loved one.
music therapy programmes around either country, meaning there
aren’t enough music therapists either. But it is a rapidly-growing field!

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