Music therapy and cancer

Music therapy uses music and sound to help express emotions and improve emotional and physical well being.

Summary

• You don't need to be musically talented to do music therapy.

• It can help you relax and improve your emotional and physical well being.

• Music therapy cannot cure, treat or prevent cancer.

Research into music therapy and cancer care

Music therapy cannot cure, treat or prevent any type of disease, including cancer. But some research shows that music therapy can help people with cancer reduce their anxiety. It might also help to improve quality of life and reduce symptoms and side effects.

We don’t yet know about all the ways music can affect the body. But we do know that when music therapy is used in the right way for each person, it can help them to feel better. To learn more about its full benefits, we need larger trials across a wider range of cancers.

A Cochrane review in 2021 looked at all the studies using music therapy to help people with cancer. There were 81 trials with a total of 5576 people.

The results suggested that music therapy may help with anxiety, depression, hope, pain and fatigue in adults with cancer. The design of many of the trials had limitations though. So the authors suggest more research is needed.

Read the 2021 review on the Cochrane Library website

Finding a music therapist

There are around 800 music therapists in the UK. They are all trained musicians who have also studied music therapy at postgraduate level.

The title of music therapist is protected by UK law. In the UK, music therapists with a professional qualification must register with the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC).

You can only call yourself a music therapist if you have registered with the HCPC and taken a course that they recognise.

Useful links and organisations

There are a number of different organisations that music therapists can join.

This page is due for review. We will update this as soon as possible.