Music works even in our very intensive treatment. We can get to powerful issues without children becoming explosive. The children consider it an honor to sit beside Dr. Nelson as he plays guitar. The starting and stopping of singing and snarling may well relate to starting and stopping emotionally, he says. Dr. Nelson, whose wife is an opera singer and whose house usually is filled with music, also believes that song can help parents guide children's behavior at home.
Some parents react with disgust when their children have accidents.
It certainly can't hurt to try songs to help your child deal with transitions from one activity to another, he says, noting how many daycare providers sing when they want children to clean up their toys. Finally, be sure to talk with older children about the music they listen to. Growing through adolescence means separating aggression from sexuality, but some lyrics work against that. Links to abstracts of research on music's effects on intellectual development, memory, reading, learning and more. Summarizes research on the healing powers of music in the online Australian Family Physician , the journal of the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners.