Intense Musical Experience: The Next Big Thing in Therapy

The purpose of this research was to provide a descriptive study of the phenomenon known as intense musical experience (IME). The goal was to describe the people that have IMEs, the situations in which IMEs occur, and describe what the experience itself is like. Ultimately this study seeks to create a basis of research for a more efficient form of music therapy that promotes long term benefits by implementing IMEs. Through the creation of a survey on Amazon Mechanical Turkthe researchers were able to collect data from 110 participants who claimed to have had an IME. The data collected provided details about individuals who experienced the event, the type of music they were listening to, where they were listening to it, and how they were listening to it. Through the analyzation of the data collected implications for the use of IMEs in therapy were created. Many of the implications favored IME use in therapy, whereas only a few did not favor it. Overall this study created a starting point for further research into the topic of utilization of IMEs in therapy