Written by Alecia M. Meila, MM, MT-BC
Music has long been used for healing, before we understood the brain or the mind, and long before we ever applied scientific study to this ubiquitous part of human existence.
The university I attended for my undergrad, Marywood University, is a Catholic university and, at the time, the music therapy department was directed by Sister Mariam Pfeifer. If there was something to know about music therapy, Sister Mariam knew it, and I remember spending hours in her office talking to her about the nature of music, the nature of people, and where music therapy fit into it all.
One time in class, Sister Mariam asserted the idea that I opened this post with. I remember her standing behind her podium (in front of my class of two whole music therapy students), and she gave a little knowing smile and said, “We say music therapy started after World War One, but really, music therapy started back in Biblical times. David used to soothe Saul’s troubled mind by playing the harp, didn’t he?”
Regardless of your religious affiliation, the idea that music was used in the distant past as a purposeful way to heal someone is fascinating. We as a species seem to intuitively know the profound relationship we have to music, and it’s perhaps for this reason that music therapy has had a long and meaningful relationship with military service members and veterans.
Long before music therapy became an established healthcare profession, musicians were bringing music into military hospitals, rehabilitation programs, and the lives of wounded service members. Over the course of the twentieth century, these informal musical performances, usually in the form of musicians or orchestras performing at these care institutions, gradually developed into something more intentional: the use of music as a clinical tool to support physical rehabilitation, emotional expression, social connection, and recovery.
Today, music therapists work with veterans experiencing post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), traumatic brain injury (TBI), chronic pain, depression, anxiety, social isolation, and the challenges of transitioning from military to civilian life.
The story of music therapy and veterans is, in many ways, also the story of how we came to understand that healing involves more than treating an injury.
Music and Veterans After World War I
After The Great War, thousands of soldiers returned from the war with what was then called “shell shock,” which was a collection of physical and psychological symptoms that could include tremors, paralysis, nightmares, anxiety, emotional distress, and difficulties functioning in everyday life.
Military hospitals began incorporating music and other recreational activities into the lives of recovering soldiers. At Craiglockhart War Hospital in Edinburgh, a facility specializing in the treatment of officers with shell shock, music was a regular part of hospital life. Patients participated in musical performances, concerts, and other activities intended to restore engagement and connection. Historical accounts of the hospital describe music as part of the sensory and social environment surrounding treatment.
There were also musicians who deliberately used music with soldiers experiencing psychological trauma. One example is Paula Lind Ayers, an American singer and YMCA entertainer during World War I. Her work became notable enough that she was referred to as "the girl who could sing away shell shock," and the approach was reportedly replicated by others serving overseas.
Music therapy had not yet become an established profession, and the science and language surrounding trauma were very different from what they are today. But the basic observation was already there: Music could reach people who were struggling to respond to other forms of treatment.
From Hospital Entertainment to Music Therapy
Following it’s “debut” after World War I, the connection between music and military healthcare became even stronger during and after World War II.
Musicians, both professional and amateur, performed for wounded service members in veterans hospitals. Medical staff observed that music could have meaningful physical and emotional effects, and hospitals increasingly sought musicians to work alongside healthcare personnel. This was a major turning point for what would eventually become the field of music therapy.
By 1945, the U.S. War Department had formally documented the use of music in the rehabilitation of service members (including in the very officially-titled “Technical Bulletin 187,” or “Music in Reconditioning in American Service Forces Convalescent and General Hospitals”).
Now, music was no longer being viewed solely as something soothing to provide for patients. It was increasingly being considered something that could be used intentionally as part of rehabilitation and recovery. In many ways, the needs of returning service members helped push the emerging profession toward greater clinical structure and professionalization.
Music and Soldiers During the Vietnam Era
Of course, war changed, and so did veterans’ needs. The Vietnam War brought a different generation of veterans, with different challenges both at home and abroad, and a different cultural relationship with music.
For some service members, music was one of the few pieces of normal life they could carry with them. And for many Vietnam veterans, music continued to matter after they came home.
At the Hines VA in Chicago, for example, Vietnam veterans Thad Holloway and Michael Slatton met through a music therapy program after struggling with the transition home. They eventually became longtime singing partners and performers. Slatton described music as having helped him find a part of himself that he had lost after returning from Vietnam.
For another Vietnam veteran, music became a way to reconnect with other Veterans and share experiences that were difficult to communicate in ordinary conversation.
These stories illustrate an important distinction: music therapy isn't simply about making Veterans feel happier. Music can provide a structured way to communicate, remember, practice coping skills, develop relationships, and experience competence and identity.
From Surviving to Reconnecting
Perhaps one of the most important developments in modern veteran music therapy is the recognition that recovery isn't only about reducing symptoms, physical or emotional.
It can also be about rebuilding a life.
Veterans transitioning from active duty to civilian life may lose some of the structure, camaraderie, purpose, and identity that accompanied military service. Group music therapy can provide opportunities to build new relationships, practice communication, develop coping strategies, and experience belonging. Research describing veteran music therapy groups has specifically identified increased camaraderie, socialization, peer connection, and community reintegration as important outcomes.
The Tradition Continues
From the musicians who performed for wounded soldiers during the World Wars, to the singers and songwriters who helped Vietnam Veterans find their voices again, to today's board-certified music therapists working within VA and military healthcare systems, music has maintained a remarkable place in Veteran care.
Sometimes, music can reach a person in places where words, medicine, and conversation cannot.
That doesn't make music a miracle cure.
But it does make it a powerful therapeutic tool, one that has been accompanying service members and Veterans through recovery for more than a century.
We at Riverstone Therapies are very glad to be continuing the music therapy tradition of serving our veterans at our local YMCA.
We honor your service, and we are proud to thank you with ours.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Is music therapy specifically for Veterans with PTSD?
No. Music therapy can support Veterans with PTSD, but it can also address chronic pain, traumatic brain injury, depression, anxiety, neurological conditions, physical rehabilitation, social isolation, emotional expression, and adjustment to civilian life.
Did music therapy begin with Veterans?
The modern profession has roots in many settings, but military and Veterans hospitals played an important role in its development in the United States. Musicians performed in Veterans hospitals after the World Wars, and the observed benefits of music contributed to the growing use of trained hospital musicians and eventually to the development of professional music therapy.
Can music therapy treat PTSD?
Music therapy may help reduce PTSD symptoms and support coping, emotional regulation, relaxation, and social connection. Research is promising, but music therapy should generally be considered a complementary treatment rather than a replacement for established PTSD treatments.
Does a Veteran have to be a musician to participate?
Absolutely not. Music therapy is not about musical talent or performance ability. A music therapist adapts interventions to each person's interests, abilities, clinical needs, and preferences.
What does a music therapy session with a Veteran look like?
There is no single format. A session might involve songwriting, singing, playing instruments, listening to meaningful music, guided relaxation, music and imagery, drumming, or collaborative music-making. The music is selected and used intentionally to address individualized therapeutic goals.
References
American Music Therapy Association. History of Music Therapy. American Music Therapy Association.
American Music Therapy Association. Music Therapy and Military Populations. American Music Therapy Association.
Reschke-Hernandez, A. E. (2014). Paula Lind Ayers: "Song-Physician" for Troops with Shell Shock during World War I. Journal of Music Therapy, 51(3), 276–291.
Rorke, M. A. (1996). Music and the wounded of World War II. Journal of Music Therapy, 33(3), 189–207.
Blake, R. L. Vietnam Veterans with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder: Findings from a Music and Imagery Project. Journal of the Association for Music and Imagery.
Wang, C. C., et al. (2024). Music interventions for posttraumatic stress disorder: A systematic review. Journal of Mood & Anxiety Disorders, 6, 100053.
Ma, Y.-M., Yuan, M.-D., & Zhong, B.-L. (2024). Efficacy and acceptability of music therapy for post-traumatic stress disorder: A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials. European Journal of Psychotraumatology, 15(1).
Uomoto, J. M., et al. (2025). A systematic review of music therapy for symptoms of traumatic brain injury and posttraumatic stress disorder in adults. Journal of Music Therapy, 57(4), 504–519.
National Endowment for the Arts. Creative Forces: Clinical Program.
