Music syncs words and wellness

Dr. Dustin Hixenbaugh makes going above and beyond look harmonious.  

The San Jacinto College English professor teaches composition, literature, and humanities. He also serves as co-chair for the district’s Hispanic Heritage Month programming committee and recently co-authored an academic paper with Dr. Rhonda Winegar, assistant professor of nursing at the University of Texas at Arlington, titled “Prescribing Music as an Adjunctive Treatment.”  

Hixenbaugh and Winegar first crossed paths outside of academia.  

“Rhonda and I met in Austin — she was my landlady!” he said. “We quickly discovered some shared interests. We were both in graduate school, we both love country music, and we would run into each other at concerts and share listening suggestions.” 

The two kept in touch after Hixenbaugh relocated to work at San Jac and discussed joining forces for a writing project that played into their areas of expertise.  

“Humanities and nursing are pretty different, so it took us time to settle on a topic,” he said. “We ran across the annual International Country Music Conference in Nashville and pitched a paper presentation about using country music for music therapy purposes. They accepted us, and we got to work!” 

Not his first rodeo 

Considering music from a therapeutic angle was a first for Hixenbaugh, though he has experience writing about music.  

At the University of Texas at Austin, he taught a Rhetoric of Country Music class and edited a blog where students would report on country music they were experiencing in the Austin area.  

Hixenbaugh has also addressed music in other papers and conferences. A few years ago, he wrote a paper for the South Central Modern Language Association conference about how “Mexican Americans pushed back on the way country music whitewashed the image of the cowboy.” 

On a personal note 

Hixenbaugh’s life story would be incomplete without mentioning music as his listening preferences have had a symbolic link to many of his most memorable moments.  

“I played clarinet from fourth through 12th grades, concert and marching band,” he said. “I have always enjoyed listening to music, especially country music, probably as a result of growing up in Cheyenne, Wyoming.”  

He values music to reflect or adjust his mood — sad songs when feeling down or upbeat songs when on the road to work. This project helped him realize he unknowingly uses music as therapy.  

“For instance, I had to put my dog down and spent the next week listening to Dolly Parton’s miserably sad song ‘The Grass Is Blue’ over and over,” he said. 

Why is music therapeutic? 

Hixenbaugh believes music has a lot of untapped therapeutic potential. 

His research with Winegar found that people enjoy positive therapeutic benefits from participating in a variety of activities they enjoy, but music seems to have certain powerful and pervasive qualities overall. 

Greater good 

Hixenbaugh and Winegar published the article in the Journal for Nurse Practitioners hoping it might inspire health care workers to encourage patients to listen to music in targeted, potentially therapeutic ways.  

“Nurse practitioners might create a recommended playlist for patients facing certain situations or encourage patients to create their own,” Hixenbaugh said. 

He supports his students’ musical interests, whether they choose to study a particular musician’s influence or have discussions about how music has intersected with their lives.  

“Last semester, in my Composition II course, two students decided to conduct their own research into how music could be harnessed for mental health benefits,” Hixenbaugh said. “I was excited to share our article with them and converse about our common interests.” 

Though country music was the inspiration, the duo’s paper explores music therapy broadly without focusing on genre. Hixenbaugh noted that most studies have relied on wordless classical music like Mozart, but he personally finds “clear therapeutic benefits from listening to popular music with lyrics and melodies that are relatable.”  

The two might team up again to extend their study into how music genre influences therapy.  

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About San Jacinto College

Surrounded by monuments of history, evolving industries, maritime enterprises of today, and the space age of tomorrow, San Jacinto College has served the people of East Harris County, Texas, since 1961. The College is ranked second in the nation among more than 1,100 community colleges, as designated by the Aspen Institute and was named an Achieving the Dream Leader College of Distinction in 2020. As a Hispanic-Serving Institution that spans five campuses, plus an online college, San Jacinto College serves approximately 45,000 credit and non-credit students annually. It offers more than 200 degrees and certificates across eight major areas of study that put students on a path to transfer to four-year institutions or enter the workforce. The College is fiscally sound, holding bond ratings of AA+ by Standard & Poor’s and Aa2 by Moody’s. San Jacinto College is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges.