Relatives, caregivers, and the medical field face an immense challenge when a person enters a state of unresponsive wakefulness due to illness or accident. The existential decision-making in this borderline area of life carries significant ethical implications and societal relevance. Karin Holzwarth illustrates how music therapy, as a relational therapeutic approach, enriches the treatment spectrum and aids in the search for access to individuals in a state of unresponsive wakefulness. For ages, sound and music have been recognized as powerful vehicles for altered states of consciousness. Over the past two decades, many music therapy methods have successfully applied this musical efficacy in a nuanced and reflective manner. But what exactly do we mean by the term consciousness? What does it mean when a person is described as unconscious? The author.