Music Therapy Musings

God showed up in today’s music therapy group through an 89 year old woman named Virginia. Virginia lives on the Alzheimer’s unit and is a relatively new resident.

Today we celebrated Independence Day in Music Therapy by having a patriotic “Name That Tune”. As residents sang and danced to patriotic music a magical occurrence began to take place…the inner spirits of those residents came to life.

As I played and hummed “God Bless America”, You’re A Grand Old Flag”, Yankee Doodle Boy” and many other songs we had dialogues about freedom and the gratitude felt for having those freedoms.

As I went around the circle it was Virginia’s turn to share. Despite her insistence that she is unable to sing she belted out each and every song in the game. When asked to share what freedom means to her and what freedoms she enjoys, her inner spirit shone through her smile. She shared her gratitude for freedom of speech and freedom to travel, but then she replied, “Oh I just love all people”. This began a God-inspired avalanche within the group that was amazing to watch.

Virginia shared how her mother had instilled the love of God and the love of people into her heart from the time of her childhood. You could see in her face that everyone meant something to her. But as she began to talk about the current state of the world, a sense of deep sadness came over her…but she persevered. The entire group was mesmerized as we watched and listened to her story. Despite her despair about the state of the world, her love and faith in God and her belief in a better life in heaven with her creator shone through.

By the end of her story most of the group members were in tears. When I looked around the room and asked why so many tears the response was unanimous…”they are good tears”.

We ended the session with a discussion about the freedom of individuality and choice to be who we want to be. And we sang “God Bless America”.

As I walked out of the session I could not help but have my own smile shining on my face. It was one of those magical moments I so much enjoy as a music therapist, where music brings connection and meaning and feeling.

I came across a nice interview on BlogTalkRadio.
Music and the Aging
http://www.blogtalkradio.com/patricia-grace/2009/08/31/music-for-aging

This video of Dr. Oliver Sacks is a good introduction to the power and connection between music and Alzheimer’s Disease and Dementia. I was at work today working with a young woman who has dementia. Her language skills are compromised and in the short time I have known her I have barely heard her speak.

Today we were singing. I sang many songs from the 60’s and 70’s, songs that I knew my residents had probably not known too well, if at all. As I broke into “Blowin’ in the Wind” my young resident came alive. Sitting right in front of me she burst into a big smile and began singing the song. When we had finished, she could hardly contain herself. “That was beautiful.”, she said and proceeded to reminisce about being a girl scout and all the fun she had had.

It was a magical moment; one of those moments I treasure in my work as a music therapist. The power of a simple song to reach people who can be so hard to reach is amazing.

There is a great podcast on the topic of songwriting on Music Therapy Roundtable this month.

One of my personal intervention favorites with clients is songwriting. I actually began writing my own songs before I ever became a music therapist so it was natural for me to work my skill into my clinical work. There are several methods to writing songs which I use with my older adults and Alzheimer/dementia clients. Songs we write can be as simple as taking a song that is already known to the residents, such as “If I Had a Hammer” and having them fill in the blanks.

If I had a ______________________
I’d ____________________________
I’d ____________________________
All through the _________________

You get the idea.

Spring boarding off that method…I have used well known songs and had residents simply rewrite all the lyrics, but keep the music to the original song in place. One of the long term care facilities I work in is located in the country and “country is in the name of their facility. We took John Denver’s “Take Me Home Country Roads” and rewrote the lyrics, turning it into a song about their own home/facility. We then performed the song for other residents and staff. It was fun to see the response the group got.

Finally, I have even been able to have some groups write original lyrics and music when using songwriting as a clinical music therapy intervention.

Songwriting produces some wonderful results in improving self-esteem and pride to a much needed means of self-expression. Definitely one of my favorite interventions.

Kat Fulton, MT-BC has a great short video on ways to make music with older adults.

An interesting article on music therapy with dementia clients.

I have been thinking about the founding belief on which I base my work with older adults on. That is that age has nothing to do with worth and societal contributions.

I came across this video and while this older couple does not suffer from Alzheimer’s or dementia, it was a nice reminder that older adults can still provide much to an ailing society.

Are you a music therapist who works with older adults? If you are you have information that I find valuable.
I am working on a new resource website for music therapits who work with older adults, those suffering from Alzheimer’s and Dementia as well as the elderly in long term care. As I begin to build this community there are some things I would like to know from MT’s working in this area of music therapy.

If you are such a music therapist, please contact me. I appreciate it.

These last two weeks were filled with resident bell choir performances for the holidays. In one of the facilities I work in this is the third year we have performed, in the other facility this is a brand new choir and their first performance. It was wonderful. I get such a sense of joy and peace when I watch the reactions of the other residents and staff who come to these performances. In addition, the adoration and praise that the members of the choir get is wonderful to see as well. To watch the faces of older adults, many whom often don’t get enough attention, is heart warming.

I think the bell choir performances are one of my favorite events that we have at the facilities in which I work. I try to have one of these concerts at least 3-4 times a year. So after the holidays are over my choirs will be gearing up for St. Patrick’s Day!

Looking back on past blog posts I see that it has been over a month since I last posted. The reason for this delay is that I have been away on vacation. My family and I have spent the last 19 days on the road seeing the country. We drove out West and back and it was just what my soul needed.

I am simply amazed at the amount of beauty this world has to offer if you only take the time to look. Many of the places on our trip I had visited before many years ago and some of what we saw was completely new. Yet new or familiar I saw it all with new eyes and a deep appreciation for what each place had to offer. I am particularly drawn to the mountains and truly enjoyed seeing Mt. Hood and the Three Sisters mountain range in OR as well as the Grand Tetons in WY. I think I could have spent months in the mountains and never tired of them.

As I return from this glorious trip and begin to get back into the swing of my practice I realize that I, too, will look at my work and my clients with those same new eyes. My clients bring something wonderful and new to our work each time we are together. Rather than pre-suppose who they are or how they will behave in our sessions, I will now look upon them with anticipating eyes: How will they be today? What will they share with me? How will our work evolve?

This way of thinking about my work and my clients is exciting for each day really will bring something new if I only take the time to really be with them and look.

What about you? What will your day bring? What will those in your life share? What gems can you discover each and every day if you simply take the time to look?