Music as Medicine: What Happens When Sound Becomes Part of the Healing?

There are moments when words can reach us.

And there are moments when music goes somewhere words cannot.

I have experienced both.

As a scientist, I am fascinated by what happens biologically when we hear music. As a writer and creator, I am equally fascinated by what happens emotionally when the right lyric, melody or rhythm meets us at exactly the right moment.

That is why music has become an increasingly important part of my work.

Not as background.

Not as entertainment added at the end.

But as another language of becoming.

Can Music Really Be Medicine?

In a clinical sense, music should not be presented as a replacement for medical treatment.

But the phrase “music as medicine” is not without scientific foundation.

The National Institutes of Health notes that music engages multiple areas of the brain involved in emotion, movement, sensation, thinking and memory. Research into music-based interventions has also found promising effects in areas including stress, anxiety, pain and emotional wellbeing, although the strength of the evidence varies depending on the condition and intervention. 

That distinction matters.

Music does not have to cure a disease to influence the body.

A piece of music can alter our attention.

It can evoke memory.

It can change our emotional state.

It can invite movement.

It can help create a sense of connection.

And sometimes, it gives expression to something we had not yet found language for.

That is powerful.

What Does Music Do to the Brain?

When we listen to music, the brain does not treat it as one simple stimulus.

Multiple systems become involved.

Rhythm can engage areas related to movement. Melody and harmony interact with auditory processing. Familiar music can activate memory. Emotionally meaningful music can engage networks associated with feeling, reward and expectation.

This is one reason a song can transport you back twenty years in seconds.

You do not simply remember the event.

Sometimes your body seems to remember it too.

Research supported by the NIH is increasingly examining how music-based interventions interact with neural pathways involved in emotion, memory, sensory processing and motor function. 

That interests me deeply because so much of becoming is not purely intellectual.

We can understand something cognitively and still struggle to embody it.

Music sometimes helps bridge that distance.

Music and the Biology of Stress

There is also growing research around music and stress.

A large review discussed by the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health examined more than 100 studies involving over 9,000 participants. Music-based interventions showed beneficial effects on both psychological measures of stress and physiological measures such as heart rate, blood pressure and stress-related hormones. 

This does not mean that every song relaxes every person.

Music is highly personal.

The song that calms one person may trigger a difficult memory for another.

But it does tell us something important:

Sound is not merely entering our ears. Our bodies are responding to it.

And that is where science and lived experience meet.

The Radiant Woman Began With Me

When I began creating the music that became The Radiant Woman, I was not initially thinking about building another arm of my work.

I was writing from experience.

I was creating words I needed to hear.

Songs about surviving.

Choosing yourself.

Joy returning.

Standing again.

Emerging.

Becoming.

Many of the lyrics grew out of experiences that had already found their way into my writing and into The Science of Becoming: The Biology of Transformation.

But music allowed those ideas to live differently.

A paragraph asks you to think.

A song can ask you to feel.

And I began to realize that both mattered.

Then Something Happened at the Premiere

At the September 2026 premiere of The Science of Becoming, music was woven into the experience.

One of the most memorable moments came when The Radiant Woman was performed live by vocalist Tomi Berry, accompanied by pianist Robert Carr.

Something shifted in the room.

People began singing.

The song received an encore.

And then people got up and danced.

What had begun as a book premiere had become something else for a few minutes.

There was collective joy in the room.

The audience was no longer simply listening to a message about transformation.

They were participating in it.

For me, that moment confirmed something I had already begun to sense:

Music can carry an idea beyond understanding and into experience.

Why I Created Dr. Karla Music

That is part of the reason I am continuing to develop Dr. Karla Music on YouTube.

The channel is a home for music created around themes that have shaped both my life and my work: resilience, identity, joy, reclamation, self-trust and becoming.

Songs from The Radiant Woman include pieces created to accompany women through different emotional landscapes.

Some are reflective.

Some are affirming.

Some make you want to move.

And some simply remind you that there is still more life ahead of you.

You can find the music on YouTube at Dr. Karla Music / @drKarlaMusic, as well as through major streaming platforms.

Is Listening to Music the Same as Music Therapy?

No, and the distinction is important.

Music therapy is a recognized health profession involving the intentional use of music within a therapeutic relationship by a qualified music therapist.

Listening to music independently, attending a musical performance or using music as part of a reflective practice is different. Researchers sometimes refer to broader approaches as music-based interventions or, in particular contexts, music medicine. 

My work with music sits primarily in the space of creative expression, reflection and wellbeing, not clinical music therapy.

That distinction allows us to appreciate music's possibilities without making claims the science cannot support.

A Different Way to Listen

The next time you listen to a song that moves you, pay attention to more than the lyrics.

Notice your body.

Did your breathing change?

Did your shoulders soften?

Did a memory appear?

Did you suddenly feel like moving?

Did a line make you uncomfortable?

Did another one make you feel seen?

And perhaps most importantly:

Who does this music remind you that you are capable of becoming?

That is a very different way of listening.

It transforms music from something playing around us into something we consciously experience.

Music, Memory and Becoming

Transformation rarely happens through information alone.

Human beings are emotional, biological and relational.

We remember what moved us.

We remember what we felt in a room.

We remember the song that was playing when something inside us changed.

That is why music will continue to have a place within my work.

The scientist in me wants to understand what sound is doing in the brain and body.

The writer in me wants to find the words.

And the woman who has lived through her own seasons of becoming understands that sometimes we need more than an explanation.

Sometimes we need a soundtrack.

Listen to Dr. Karla Music

Discover The Radiant Woman and more original music created around transformation, resilience, joy and becoming on the Dr. Karla Music YouTube channel, @drKarlaMusic.

Listen. Reflect. Move. Become.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can music reduce stress?

Research suggests that music-based interventions may have beneficial effects on psychological and physiological measures associated with stress. Results vary depending on the type of music, the person and the context. 

Can music help with anxiety?

Research reviewed by the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health suggests that music-based interventions may help reduce anxiety in some health care and clinical settings, although study quality and results vary. 

Is music therapy the same as listening to music?

No. Music therapy is delivered by a credentialed music therapist within a therapeutic relationship. Listening to recorded or live music can still affect mood and wellbeing, but it should not automatically be described as music therapy. 

What is The Radiant Woman?

The Radiant Woman is an original music project by Dr. Karla, created around themes including resilience, identity, joy, self-reclamation and becoming.

Where can I listen to Dr. Karla's music?

Dr. Karla's music, including songs from The Radiant Woman, can be found on the Dr. Karla Music YouTube channel, @drKarlaMusic, and on major music streaming platforms.