AND NOW...

Music Therapy vs. Talk Therapy: Which Is Better For Your Mental Health Journey?

Okay, let's be real here, this last month has been really tough for me, and I've been sitting in my therapist's office wondering if talking about my feelings for the hundredth time is actually helping or if I'm just paying someone to listen to me complain. Don't get me wrong, I love my therapist, but sometimes I walk out of there feeling like we just went in circles for 50 minutes.

So naturally, I started wondering: what if there's another way? What if instead of dissecting every anxious thought I've ever had, I could just... I don't know, play some music and feel better? It sounds almost too simple, right? But that got me diving deep into this whole music therapy thing, and honestly, what I found surprised me.

The Talk Therapy Struggle Is Real

Let me tell you about talk therapy first, because most of us have been there. You sit across from someone who nods a lot and asks, "How does that make you feel?" approximately seventeen times per session. And look, it works, research shows talk therapy alone is about 75% effective for treating mental health conditions, which is pretty damn good.

But here's the thing that nobody really talks about: talk therapy is exhausting. It requires this intense cognitive effort to put words to feelings that sometimes don't have words. Like, how do you explain that sinking feeling you get on Sunday nights that isn't quite sadness but isn't quite anxiety either? How do you articulate the way depression feels like you're moving through thick fog while everyone else is running marathons?

I remember one session where my therapist asked me to describe my panic attacks, and I just sat there like, "Uh... scary? Fast heartbeat? Existential dread?" It felt so inadequate. Sometimes our brains just can't verbalize what our hearts are screaming.

The other thing about talk therapy is that it assumes we're all naturally introspective people who can analyze our own behavior patterns. But what if you're someone who processes things differently? What if you're more of a visual person, or someone who learns through doing rather than talking?

Enter Music Therapy (And No, It's Not Just Playing Spotify)

So here's where music therapy comes in, and I need to clear something up right away, we're not talking about just throwing on some Adele when you're sad (though honestly, "Someone Like You" hits different when you're going through it).

Real music therapy involves working with trained professionals who use musical experiences to help you process emotions in ways that don't require you to have the perfect words. It's like having a whole other language to express what's happening inside you.

What blew my mind is that music therapy works through both verbal and nonverbal processing. So if you're someone like me who sometimes feels tongue-tied in regular therapy, you might find yourself writing song lyrics about your experiences or literally drumming out your frustration. There's something incredibly satisfying about beating the shit out of some drums when you're angry, you know?

The research shows that active music engagement, like songwriting, playing instruments, or singing, is way more effective than just passively listening to music. It makes sense when you think about it. When you're actively creating something, you're processing emotions in real-time rather than just hoping the right song comes on to match your mood.

When Words Feel Impossible

Here's a confession: there have been times in my deepest depressive episodes where I literally couldn't form sentences about how I was feeling. Everything felt too heavy, too complicated, too impossible to explain. During those times, talk therapy felt like trying to describe color to someone who's never seen, frustrating for everyone involved.

Music therapy offers this beautiful alternative. Instead of struggling to find words, you might work with a therapist to write a song about your experience. Or maybe you improvise on a piano, letting your fingers express what your mouth can't. There's research showing that this kind of creative expression can help people explore feelings that feel too overwhelming to verbalize directly.

I think about how many times I've connected with a song before I've connected with my own emotions. Like when Twenty One Pilots' "Stressed Out" came out and suddenly half the internet was like, "Oh shit, that's exactly how I feel about adulting." Sometimes artists can capture our internal experience better than we can ourselves.

The Brain Science Behind It All

Here's something fascinating: music therapy and talk therapy literally work on different parts of our brains. Talk therapy engages those active-thinking areas, the parts that analyze and problem-solve and try to make sense of things logically. Music therapy can tap into more emotional, intuitive areas without requiring as much cognitive heavy lifting.

For those of us dealing with anxiety, depression, or trauma, this difference can be huge. When your brain is already exhausted from just trying to get through the day, the idea of having to actively analyze your feelings in talk therapy can feel overwhelming. Music therapy can offer this more gentle, accessible way in.

So Which One Should You Choose?

Honestly? This question has been keeping me up at night (along with everything else, let's be real). After diving into all this research and thinking about my own experiences, I've realized we're asking the wrong question.

It's not really about which therapy is "better", it's about which one speaks to you and your specific brain at this specific moment in your life. Some of us are natural verbalizers who benefit from talking through our problems. Others need that creative, experiential approach that music therapy offers.

If you're someone who:

• Struggles to put feelings into words
• Has a strong connection to music or creative expression
• Finds traditional talk therapy too overwhelming
• Learns better through doing than discussing

Music therapy might be your jam (pun intended).

But if you're someone who:

• Processes things verbally and analytically
• Enjoys diving deep into behavior patterns and thought processes
• Has strong introspective abilities
• Prefers direct, structured approaches

Talk therapy might be more your speed.

The Plot Twist: Why Not Both?

Here's what really got me excited: you don't have to choose. Music therapy and talk therapy actually work incredibly well together. Imagine having a traditional therapy session where you can also express yourself through songwriting or instrumental play when words aren't enough.

Research shows that combining music therapy with standard care often leads to better outcomes than either approach alone. It's like having multiple tools in your mental health toolkit instead of just trying to fix everything with one approach.

Think about it, you could work through cognitive patterns in talk therapy while using music therapy to process the emotional stuff that's harder to verbalize. You could write songs about your experiences and then discuss those lyrics with your therapist. You could use music to access feelings that you then explore more deeply through traditional therapy techniques.

Finding Your Path Forward

Look, I'm still figuring this shit out myself. Some weeks I leave therapy feeling like we've made real progress, and other weeks I feel like I've just paid someone to confirm that yes, life is hard sometimes. But what I'm learning is that healing isn't a one-size-fits-all process.

Maybe you're reading this because you've hit a wall with traditional therapy, or maybe you're just starting your mental health journey and feeling overwhelmed by all the options. Either way, remember that it's okay to experiment. It's okay to try different approaches and see what resonates with your particular brand of human messiness.

The beautiful thing about both music therapy and talk therapy is that they're both ultimately about connection, connecting with ourselves, with our emotions, with others, and with healthier ways of being in the world. Whether you find that connection through words or through melody, the important thing is that you find it.

We're all just trying to figure out how to be okay in this weird, complicated world. Sometimes that means talking it out, sometimes it means singing it out, and sometimes it means doing both. Whatever path feels right for you, know that there are people out there, therapists, music therapists, and communities like ours here at Breathe N Bounce, ready to support you along the way.

The journey isn't always easy, but damn, it's worth it. And hey, if all else fails, at least you'll have a killer playlist by the end of it.