Preface

Sometimes, individual effort may be required to cope with life's challenges and maintain inner balance. At this point, group therapy can offer people a different perspective. Group therapy, a type of psychotherapy that aims to help people manage mental health conditions or cope with negative experiences and behaviors, has a long history. Sometimes a group is established under a theme (weight loss, social phobia, addiction, etc.), while sometimes group treatment can be helpful for personal development. In this environment, group participants express their experiences and emotions, visualize their goals, and carry out planning activities to achieve them.

In music therapy, which can be applied individually or in groups, a music therapist works with a client or group in a planned manner to meet their physical, emotional, mental, social, and cognitive needs to achieve and facilitate communication, dialogue, learning, mobilization, expression, organization, and other related therapeutic goals. In a process, music and/or musical elements such as sound, rhythm, melody, and harmony are used. Therapeutic interventions aim to treat participants as a result of the neurophysiological effects of music on the organism. During the therapy process, music acts as a facilitator and, in some cases, a direct producer of the conscious and/or unconscious reactions and verbal responses of the participants in therapy.

This book is for professionals working in the health, social, and artistic fields, as well as therapists working in clinical settings.

We would like to thank all the authors who contributed to this book and the staff at IntechOpen, who provided invaluable cooperation and support throughout the publication process.

> **Simon George Taukeni** University of Namibia, Windhoek, Khomas Region, Namibia

### **Mukadder Mollaoğlu**

Faculty of Health Sciences, Sivas Cumhuriyet University, Sivas, Turkey

### **Songül Mollaoğlu**

Faculty of Education, Department of Fine Arts, Sivas Cumhuriyet University, Sivas, Turkey

**1**

Section 1

Group Therapy
