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What if music could calm anxiety, reduce pain, and even transform the surgical experience—without medication? Join Alice Hudnall Cash, PhD, as she reveals the science and soul behind music as medicine. A pioneering clinical musicologist and psychotherapist, Dr. Cash shares how rhythmic entrainment, instrumental music, and ancient healing traditions can influence the body at a cellular level—helping patients relax, heal faster, and feel safer during medical procedures. Through powerful real-life stories, she illustrates how music doesn’t just move us emotionally—it physically changes us.
This episode weaves together cutting-edge medical innovation and centuries-old wisdom, exploring solfeggio frequencies, medieval healing traditions, and the deep spiritual roots of music. Dr. Cash also shares personal stories of a lifelong musical lineage, from early piano lessons to Moravian musical traditions, revealing how music becomes part of who we are—almost like it’s written into our DNA.
From operating rooms and Alzheimer’s care to patented medical devices now used worldwide, Dr. Cash’s groundbreaking work is reshaping how medicine views healing. This conversation will change how you think about music forever—and may just have you listening with new ears to the healing harmony already surrounding you.
Guest Biography:
Alice Hudnall Cash, PhD, LCSW, is a clinical musicologist and licensed clinical social worker with over 25 years of experience researching and working with surgical patients. She holds a Bachelor and Master of Music in piano performance, a PhD in clinical musicology, and a Master’s in clinical social work from the University of Louisville. While on staff at the University of Louisville School of Medicine in the mid-1990s, Dr. Cash identified the untapped power of music during surgery and developed a simple, evidence-based method using purely instrumental music paced to a healthy resting heartbeat to promote rhythmic entrainment. Her work led to a U.S. patent in 2008 for a method and apparatus to reduce anxiety and pain perception during medical procedures. Today, her pre-loaded headphones and MP3 players are used in hospitals worldwide, with five therapeutic playlists available on the Apple App Store and Google Play. Originally focused on surgical patients, her work now supports hospitals, surgery and dialysis centers, and a wide range of applications including chemotherapy, pain management, dentistry, ketamine infusions, and anxiety reduction, while also educating audiences on the distinction between music therapy and music medicine.
Episode Chapters:
(0:00:01) - Healing Powers of Music and Sound
(0:09:14) - Music Medicine and Healing Origins
(0:15:44) - Exploring Music Therapy Opportunities
(0:20:15) - Music Therapy in Surgery Implementation
(0:34:30) - Healing Power of Instrumental Music
(0:41:03) - Music, Math, and Spiritual Connections
(0:46:26) - Power of Music in Divine Connection
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