This World Music Therapy Week, we’d like to share some of our therapists thoughts (and feedback received) concerning music therapy and the benefits it has upon participants:
Music therapy through the eyes of a music therapist:
“Music therapy is highly adaptable depending on a client’s needs. At Chroma, therapists work with adults living with a brain injury utilising Neurologic Music Therapy techniques such as Melodic Intonation Therapy to retrain speech through singing and Therapeutic Instrumental Music Performance to support functional movement goals. Chroma therapists also work with adolescents living with trauma or attachment disorder facilitating music improvisation and song-writing to support the expression, processing, and understanding of difficult emotions.” – Sarah Morgan, Neurologic Music Therapist at Chroma
Recent feedback from a parent of a young person accessing Music Therapy through Chroma, at one of our partnership schools:
“The therapeutic support and wonderful skills that Lucy offers have given my daughter the help she needed to navigate some very difficult and challenging times. The therapy has helped her to grow her confidence and develop her self-esteem. Lucy provides an emotionally safe and secure space that lets my daughter decide the pace and make her own choices. Without these sessions my daughter would have struggled to access school.” – Lucy Collings-Pettit, Neurologic Music Therapist at Chroma
A personal reflection of music therapy from Serenna Wagner, Music Therapist at Chroma:
“One of the most thrilling parts of my Music Therapy work at CHROMA has been helping clients who have suffered a stroke with speech rehabilitation. I’ve witnessed for myself the incredible power of Neurologic Music Therapy technique in this area – and, where the client has aphasia – melodic intonation therapy in particular. There’s nothing to compare with the excitement in the room when somebody is able to say their grandchild’s name again or, in the case of one of my clients, he was able to say ‘I love you’ to his wife on the phone for the first time since the stroke. There wasn’t a dry eye in the house!”
A personal reflection of music therapy from Jon Fever, Music Therapist at Chroma:
“There isn’t a week of work without a ‘this is why I’m a Music Therapist’ moment. It can be anything from a patient mouthing out the syllables to a loved one’s name for the first time since their injury, to a fully formed song story that is acted out and expressed using rhythm and melody. All are equally important, and all are huge leaps forward in a patient’s rehabilitation or development.”
A personal reflection regarding a current client from Sally Watson – Senior Therapist at Chroma:
“After almost a year of neuro music therapy input, she is now able to take part in activities with her family and in the community without anxiety taking over. She sometimes sings with me in her lounge where her fellow residents gather round and sing along or applaud. I find it unbelievably moving to see her interaction with them and the pride she takes in making music.”
“Charlotte experienced a severe brain injury in childhood. She can no longer talk and needs assistance to eat, drink, and mobilise. In Charlotte’s music therapy sessions I provide regular, interactive experiences where Charlotte can find enjoyment and stimulation at an appropriate level as I play a selection of familiar and improvised songs on a variety of instruments. Charlotte has opportunities to touch instruments for sensory input, make song choices via a picture board, and be an empowered participant.” – Sarah Morgan, Neurologic Music Therapist at Chroma
At the end of the music therapy intervention, an adoptive Mum commented:
“My child can now express how he feels without lashing out and we can have a conversation about difficult feelings. He has come a long way. It is a great achievement because in the early days it was a very different story. He could not empathise and everything had to be his way.” – Anna Fazzi, Neurologic Music Therapist at Chroma
