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In this episode:
What if music could calm anxiety, reduce pain, and even transform the surgical experience—without medication? Join Alice Hudnall Cash, PhD, LCSW, 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.
📣Dr. Cash’s Website:
➡️https://www.surgicalserenitysolutions.com/
Episode Chapters:
(0:00:01) – Healing Powers of Music and Sound
Music as healing tool, rhythmic entrainment, sacred medicine, spiritual aspect, emotional impact, and personal experience.
(0:09:14) – Music Medicine and Healing Origins
Solfeggio frequencies, rhythmic entrainment, solfege, musical upbringing, family’s legacy, Moravian traditions, and music’s profound connection.
(0:15:44) – Exploring Music Therapy Opportunities
Musicologist’s journey into music medicine, collaborating with Dr. Arthur Harvey and Dr. Joel Elkies on therapeutic potential of music.
(0:20:15) – Music Therapy in Surgery Implementation
Music and medicine intersect in surgery, using rhythmic entrainment and calming music to alleviate anxiety and stabilize physiological responses.
(0:34:30) – Healing Power of Instrumental Music
Music’s transformative power in medical settings, reducing need for medication, universal language, organ frequencies, and vocal toning for healing.
(0:41:03) – Music, Math, and Spiritual Connections
Music’s mystical and mathematical connections to the divine, drones for trance-like states, and the impact of math on personal growth.
(0:46:26) – Power of Music in Divine Connection
Music unites people towards a common purpose, inspires innovation, and has a lasting impact on personal and professional growth.
Episode Transcript
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