Abstract

Music is effective as a therapeutic intervention for psychological and physical symptoms. The original hymn, It Is Well with My Soul, written by Horatio Spafford in 1873, was crafted as a result of extreme psychological hurt (Hawn, 2016). Improvements in anxiety, depression, quality of life, coping, and mood have been described when using music as therapy (Ahmadi, 2013; Archer, Buxton, & Sheffield, 2015). Music has been effective in decreasing anxiety associated with cancer screenings, such as mammography (Zavotsky et al., 2014). Religious music, in particular, has proven to be a successful strategy to assuage feelings of fear and to gain strength to endure cancer treatments (Ahmadi; Hamilton, Worthy, Kurtz, Cudjoe, & Johnstone, 2016). Additionally, music has positively influenced “heart rate, respiratory rate, and blood pressure” (Bradt, Dileo, Grocke, & Magill, 2011).