Vibroacoustic therapy is the use of low frequency sound waves and therapeutic music to heal people from pain, addiction, and other medical issues. Not many people have heard of vibroacoustic therapy or are aware that it exists, but we all know how music makes us feel.
Research on vibroacoustic therapy, conducted by Olav Skille and Tony Wigram in the mid 20th century, was found to benefit patients with cerebral palsy, insomnia, pain and Parkinson’s disease. It wasn’t until the ‘90s that Wigram discovered that sound and vibration could be used to heal cognitive disabilities, such as anxiety and self-harming behaviors like addiction.
Music’s healing power has been well-documented. While vibroacoustic therapy has been around for decades, it has only more recently become an accepted modern approach to healing pain, practicing meditation, and improving mindfulness for those in addiction recovery.
Music as a Healing Power
The primitive aboriginals were the first to use the sound from the didgeridoo to heal people, but Pythagoras was the first to prescribe music as medicine in 500 BC. Pythagoras’ discovery of music intervals allowed him to use the harmonic frequencies as a medicinal healing power to soothe animals and people.
From there, every genre from the Gregorian Chants to classical music to hip-hop to electronic dance music continues to inspire and heal people in one way or another. However, vibroacoustic therapy often uses more subtle sounds of nature and soothing instrumentals without lyrics.
How Vibroacoustic Therapy Works
Clients lay down on a large lounge chair or massage table with embedded speakers called transducers. The music plays through the transducers and creates vibrations felt in the body and sound heard from the ears.
“It’s such a blessing to have these at our disposal. They are amazing lounge chairs that vibrate and play music…It’s such a relief to come in here no matter where I am mentally, physically, and emotionally, I can sit on one of these chairs and come out in a better state.”
– James Wainwright, Director of the Serenity Lounge at Transformations Treatment Center
The vibrations stimulate nerves in the spine, brain stem, the limbic system that drives emotional response, and activates the auditory nerve that connects to muscle nerves. The low frequency bass causes muscle tissues to relax, blood vessels to dilate, and increases the body’s capacity to heal.
Benefits of Vibroacoustic Therapy
Vibroacoustic therapy improves mental, physical, and emotional health. For those dealing with major stressors in early addiction recovery, vibroacoustic therapy can help you relax and stay present in the moment without feeling the urge to turn to drugs or alcohol to cope.
Some of the positive responses from vibroacoustic therapy include:
- Helping the body self-regulate to a calming state
- Lowered blood pressure
- A reduction in pain and muscle tension
- Increased relaxation and happiness
- Increased blood circulation
- Slower heart rate and reduction of stress
- Better sleep quality
Vibroacoustic therapy puts the body in sync with itself. Since humans are made up of about 65 percent water, the vibration of the music allows the relaxation to take place, releasing stress and muscle tension.
About The Serenity Lounge
At The Serenity Lounge at Transformations Treatment Center, we believe in the proven benefits of vibroacoustic therapy and we see it help our clients through the toughest of times. Director of the Serenity Lounge, James Wainwright, tailors the music and visual aids based on the client’s needs.
“I’m able to work with different programs with a little bit more detail and fine tuning to make sure they maximize their experience and get the most relief as possible. Pain is definitely one that I can tailor to; depression and anxiety are also ones that I can tailor to as well as any number of symptoms from mind-chatter, anger, insomnia, migraines, headaches, ADHD, racing thoughts and cravings.”
– James Wainwright, Director of the Serenity Lounge at Transformations Treatment Center
Clients who come to the Serenity Lounge for vibroacoustic therapy are usually part of the partial hospitalization program (PHP) and transitional living program. James also works closely with the outpatient client’s primary therapist so he can tailor vibroacoustic therapy to the client’s needs.
Vibroacoustic therapy is just one of the specialized services at Transformations Treatment Center. If you or your loved one is seeking a partial hospitalization program or outpatient program that can be tailored to suit individual needs, call us today at 800-270-4315.
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