Creative Arts in Therapy

So how does music relieve pain?  Despite conducting research on this very subject, I cannot give you an exact answer.  Yet, the results of my studies points in two different ways music can impact how much pain we feel.
To understand how music affects pain, we must first explore pain.  Pain is multidimensional.  The first is [...]

As a hospice clinician, I frequently walk into the rooms of comatose patients and find music being played (by CD player or other device).  More often than not, this music is too loud, too stimulating/too varied in dynamic changes, and/or too incongruent with the patient’s musical preferences.  This scenario is always a problem because it [...]

Deaf individuals can enjoy music.  One of my Deaf friends is an accomplished drummer.  Another is a professional dancer.
Yet another is a Broadway actor and certified Deaf interpreter for Broadway musicals.
As a music therapist, I worked with young deaf children in a therapeutic preschool class along with hearing children
of Deaf parents. The deaf children in [...]

I’ve been practicing music therapy since 1993 and have had the opportunity to see many people
smile or breathe more easily as a result of music.  It is such a powerful tool that never ceases to amaze me.
In 2000 I combined my music therapy degree with my masters in Deaf education and developed Baby Fingers LLC… [...]

When you have a child with disabilities, teaching concepts of time can be difficult. Music is an excellent way to introduce this concept and help your child understand the passage of time.
There are many songs about the changing seasons, and with the holidays coming music is a great way to communicate that winter is on [...]

My work as a music therapist involves a significant amount of time spent educating parents on the benefits of music therapy. The typical progression begins with a phone conversation where the parent describes their child’s love for music as well as their unique challenges. I will then describe how music therapy can benefit their [...]

Recently, I received an email from a high school senior who was contemplating a career in music therapy.  In her letter, she mentioned that her parents had concerns because they didn’t think she’d find a job, make enough money, or establish career stability as a music therapist.  The student also described concerns about the fact [...]

There are times when I walk into a new patient’s room and the entire family looks at me skeptically.  I imagine they might be thinking ‘what is this lady with a guitar doing in my child’s hospital room.’   I am the last person they expect to see walk through that door.  When I put myself [...]

As a music therapist, I knew that my graduate degree in Deaf education would have to be put to work that included music.  I was fortunate to have the opportunity to work in a therapeutic preschool where I had a class of deaf children whose parents were hearing, together with hearing children whose parents were [...]

I just finished supporting a child through a dressing change using music therapy when an anesthesia resident asked if I could accompany her to the recovery room.  A three year old child was distressed after her surgery and was inconsolable.  As we rushed to the recovery room together, I thought it was rather funny to [...]