TY  - JOUR
AU  - Shannon, Peter
AU  - Gilbert, Paul
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/08/03
TI  - Exploring Patient Experiences of Live Music in an Oncology Setting Through the Lens of Compassion Focused Therapy
JO  - OBM Integrative and Complementary Medicine
SP  - 025
VL  - 11
IS  - 03
AB  - Live music interventions are increasingly employed in healthcare settings through a range of models, including clinical music therapy and Arts-in-Health musician programs. This study examines patient responses to live music delivered by trained professional orchestral musicians within an outpatient chemotherapy infusion unit. Although a substantial body of research associates music with reductions in anxiety, pain, and distress, findings remain heterogeneous, and the mechanisms underlying these outcomes remain incompletely understood. This is particularly true in live music settings, where musical experience is inseparable from interpersonal encounter. The aim of this study was to explore whether Compassion Focused Therapy (CFT), the psychotherapeutic model developed by Paul Gilbert, offers a useful interpretive framework for understanding patient experiences of live music delivered by Arts-in-Health musicians. Drawing upon qualitative patient reflections collected through a service-evaluation questionnaire, the study examines how processes associated with emotional regulation, social safeness, connection, comfort, and self-soothing may emerge within live musical encounters. Viewed through a compassion science perspective, patient accounts frequently reflected experiences of meaningful autobiographical connection, reduced isolation, emotional comfort, and feelings of being cared for. These observations suggest that some benefits of music in healthcare may arise not solely from acoustic properties of the music itself, but also from relational processes embedded within the musical encounter. The purpose of this study is not to apply CFT as an intervention, but to use it as an interpretive framework for examining patient experiences of live music within an oncology setting. Through this lens, the findings contribute to emerging discussions concerning music, compassion, and human connection within healthcare.
SN  - 2573-4393
UR  - https://doi.org/10.21926/obm.icm.2603025
DO  - 10.21926/obm.icm.2603025
ID  - Shannon2026
ER  -