Could a solution to the opioid overdose and suicide crisis we’re experiencing be music? A new book says, “Yes!”
The book “Rock to Recovery: Music as a Catalyst for Human Transformation,” shows how therapeutic music programming can help non-musicians overcome the devastating issues of addiction, trauma, and suicide.
In 2020, 93,000 people died from an accidental overdose. More than 48,000 died by suicide. Music may be one of the most powerful — and easily accessible — ways to address this mental health crisis. A new book, Rock to Recovery: Music as a Catalyst for Human Transformation tells how.
Musician Wes Geer and mental health researcher Constance Scharff, PhD, each know the power of music to heal; music saved both their lives. After nine years of watching more than 100,000 non-musicians use music to heal, they teamed up to write Rock to Recovery: Music as a Catalyst for Human Transformation.
Geer was chosen as touring guitarist with Korn, in part because he was sober. When his time with the band ended, he asked the Universe, “What can a sober musician do to make a difference in the world?” The idea for Rock to Recovery® was born. While in rehab, Geer had seen how music brought people together. He started going into rehabs and mental health facilities to form bands with non-musicians. The transformations were miraculous. People who started the session dope-sick or wanting to die, literally left laughing and singing. The organization grew to serve more than 100 facilities in four states, bringing the healing power of music to 30,000 people each year.
Geer wanted to share the Rock to Recovery story with a wider audience. He partnered with mental health and addiction researcher, Constance Scharff, Ph.D. Scharff specializes in complementary therapies that improve addiction and mental health treatment outcomes. When she saw a group of patients in an addiction detox program light up after a Rock to Recovery session, she jumped at the opportunity to write the book with Geer.
Together, the authors chronicle the stories of eighteen Rock to Recovery participants. The stories cover a wide range of demographics. Music is a universal healer. Taken from interviews conducted between 2018 and 2020, each of the individuals' shares in their own words how writing music and singing has helped them heal. The stories are harrowing. They cover topics from military sexual assault, to sex trafficking, to combat-related trauma, domestic violence, and child abuse. Not everyone makes it. Music is a healing tool, but it does not cure on its own. Yet, the book as a whole is inspiring. For many, music gives them back their song.
In addition to the stories, science-based sections share with the reader the ways in which Rock to Recovery’s music programming improves treatment outcomes. These include measures of wellness, willingness to engage in treatment longer, and neurological improvement.
Rock to Recovery: Music as a Catalyst for Human Transformation is available in print and e-book editions through all online book retailers. The audiobook will be available in September 2021. A portion of the proceeds from the book fund the Rock to Recovery nonprofit, which provides therapeutic music programming at treatment centers unable to pay for the cost of services.
Geer and Scharff are available for virtual and in-studio interviews.
You can purchase the book today using this link.
