The holidays can be a stressful time for many people. Almost nine out of ten people say they have concerns about the upcoming holiday season that cause them stress (American Psychological Association, 2023).  

Everyone feels stress, and a little bit of it can actually help us stay motivated. But too much stress can worsen our mental and physical health (World Health Organization, 2023). Luckily, most people have some healthy ways to deal with stress. These ways of managing stress are called coping skills (American Psychological Association, 2023).  Some examples of coping skills include talking to friends and family about your stress, eating healthy, exercising regularly, getting enough sleep, making arts and crafts, and, of course, engaging with music!  

Music has been shown to be a great way to manage stress. Here are a few ways to use music as a coping skill:  

• Listening to music can help reduce stress and increase relaxation. Studies have shown that using familiar and preferred music with specific tempos, rhythms, and melodies is the best way to increase relaxation (Clark & Tamplin, 2016; Smith & Joyce 2004) 

•  Singing is a great way to actively engage with music that has been proven to reduce levels of stress hormones in the body, like cortisol (Clark and Tamplin, 2016). It also encourages consciously controlled breathing, which is another activity proven to reduce stress (LeWine, 2024) 

•  Songwriting can also be helpful in expressing complex emotions and reducing stress. Parents of hospitalized children who participated in a songwriting group led by board-certified music therapists saw a significant reduction in self-reported stress levels after sessions (Marcovitz et al., 2024).  

  This is just the beginning. Working with a licensed music therapist you could enhance any one of these coping skills and even add a few more! If you or someone you know deals with chronic stress that causes difficulties in daily life and you feel like music could help, please reach out and schedule some sessions with our licensed music therapists here at NMTS.   

- Eric Gieseke, MT-BC, LPMT