Therabeat Summer Recital by: Perry Wright

After almost three months of interning at Therabeat, it was time for the Summer Recital. Since I started in June, so many of the kiddos were already working toward August 23rd—I was amazed at how many hours of practice these kids were putting in to achieve their goal of getting up in front of a ton of people to perform their own piece of music.

               The day of the Recital was such a culmination of joy to watch not only the kids I had been working with, but to also enjoy some awesome performances from kids I had never seen before. Whether watching from the audience, or up on stage with a little performer, I couldn’t have been prouder of all the awesome kids who shared their light and brought joy to everyone in the audience.  Every performer brought something great to the table—there was a perfect mixture of sweet and fun moments that made almost everyone a little misty, because of how touching all the performances were!!

               When I think about why the day was so special, I think it is a time for everyone to step back and see Music Therapy at work in a really tangible and enjoyable way. Music is a powerful means of communication, and every child was able to communicate a part of themselves to the audience through sharing their gift of music. Furthermore, from someone who has definitely been super nervous to get up and sing in front of people—I was so impressed and touched by the way confidence was built in the kids by even walking up in front of everyone to perform. What a cool experience to see kids work so hard for months to finally reach their goal!!

               The whole experience was an opportunity for me to think about how much of a blessing it is to get to work with and know these awesome kids! After the recital, many parents were thanking the Therabeat team for helping their kids—as much as I appreciate that, I couldn’t help but think about how thankful I am to get the chance to know these kids and learn from them everyday. That night I went to bed with such a full heart, and some fresh musical inspiration from all the amazing performers—which is such a gift to have halfway through a challenging internship. I am thankful that the whole day allowed me to keep my focus on what really matters: always striving to learn more about Music Therapy, and becoming a more well-rounded therapist, so these kids can have to best opportunity to succeed and share their gifts with everyone!

 - Intern Perry Wright 

Summer Recital!!!! Blog post by Stephanie Schecter

I felt like a proud mom watching each one of my kids perform during the recital. The weeks leading up to it, I could feel the excitement growing in each of the clients.

I actually got little nervous butterflies when it was performance time. I wanted everyone to do so well and I just hoped I could be there for each one if he or she needed. I knew they were ready – I had a good feeling everyone would do well and boy did they! 

It was amazing to see some kids who had been so nervous before, come up on stage, perform for a big audience, and proudly take a bow. One of my clients had been too nervous to bow after giving a practice performance in our session one day, but after he performed at the recital, not only did he take his bow, but he also raised his arms up high and shouted “Yea!” while running back to his seat! It was awesome to witness how thrilled he was about his accomplishment! 

Another client I see made me get all teary-eyed and get goose bumps. He sings so well and we had worked a lot with him to have appropriate performance etiquette, such as holding the microphone properly, not making loud noises into the microphone, and keeping his hands down so not to lick and wipe his mouth nervously. When he sang, he exhibited absolutely none of the off-task behaviors and gave such an amazing and sweet performance of “Hallelujah”. I was so proud of him, I just wanted to go up and give him the biggest hug. I can’t even imagine how proud his family felt!

I had fun performing with two other clients! They both charmed the crowd, one with his dance moves and the other with his original lyrics, in which he included family members into the song. Their enthusiasm was infectious.

Two brothers I see did a duet on piano and recorder and it was so sweet to see them working together, listening to the other for musical cues of when to play.

One kid went right for the trophy after he finished his performance…it was adorably hilarious! He just knew he did so well!

It was truly a special day watching everyone become so focused, striving to do their best as they performed their songs. They all did wonderfully. My heart swells again just thinking about it! Like I said, it was a proud mom feeling over here. Seriously one of the most heart-warming things I’ve ever been a part of. It made me so thankful to be doing what I’m doing!!

Music Therapy with Patients with Alzheimer's Disease - An Intern Perspective by Perry Wright

“Speak to one another in psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord.” –Ephesians 5:19

               What a blessing that being an intern at Therabeat, Inc. has allowed me the opportunity to work not only with children, but now also with older adults. Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) is something that effects so many people of this population, and it is something that is very close to my heart. My grandmother of 89 has been diagnosed with AD for a few years, and my family and I have begun to see some of her cognitive abilities begin to fade. However, this is the amazing woman who taught me the meaning of music, and how precious of a gift it is. Growing up, she was the one who encouraged me to sing and explore music more than anyone else in my life. She always said “If music can soothe the little babies, then God must have meant it for all of us.” I truly believe that her influence is a major reason why I was led to the field of music therapy! So now that she has been effected by AD—it’s pretty awesome to see how music plays a therapeutic role in her life, and also the life of so many other people suffering from the same disease.

               A lot of research has been conducted to give some evidence to show that music (especially live music between two or more people) accesses memories and personality in people that may seem lost as cognitive abilities of individuals with AD. “The Role of Singing Familiar Songs in Encouraging Conversation among People with Middle to Late Stage Alzheimer’s Disease” in the Journal of Music Therapy (JMT) is a great article that demonstrates the role that music therapy plays in helping a deep sense of self emerge. In this article, the researcher notes that patients with AD often lose their conversational skills. This includes a lost in speech fluency, decrease in spontaneous speech, difficulty naming things, and a loss of meaningful content of speech. This can be frustrating for the patients and for families as well. However, in this study, group music therapy with patients with AD was shown to improve conversational and spontaneous speech. This occurred through singing music from the patients’ formative years. In a disease in which the hallmark is memory loss, music elicits not only memory of melody and lyrics, but also of memories and emotions associated with the music. In this study, music therapy was shown not only to elicit conversation, but to access long forgotten emotions, a sense of self, and a sense of belonging. This helps to improve the quality of life for patients with AD (Dassa, 2014).

               I saw this in action this past weekend while singing some old hymns with my grandmother I mentioned earlier who has AD and my grandpa, who does not have AD. They often have trouble communicating as the cognitive abilities of my grandmother decrease. However, whenever we start to sing some of their favorite old hymns—the verse in Ephesians quoted above rings so true! Communicating and sharing with one another through song is such an encouraging and edifying experience for them both. My grandmother is starting to forget lots of things, but she remembers all her old favorite hymns—even some that she hasn’t sung since childhood. After singing together she said to the family—“When you can’t do anything else, you can always sing. And this will bring joy to your heart.” To me, this quote sums up how special and effective music therapy is to patients with AD—it provides an outlet for success and joy in a situation that seems hopeless.

Dassa, A. (2014). The Role of Singing Familiar Songs in Encouraging Conversation

               Among People with Middle to Late Stage Alzheimer’s Disease.” Journal of

               Music Therapy 51(2), 131-153. doi: 10.1093/jmt/thu007.

Music Therapy with Alzheimer's Disease- An Intern Perspective By: Stephanie Schecter

Even though this internship is focused on kids being that it is a pediatric center, Perry and I have the wonderful opportunity to see one very special geriatric client. She has been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease and is in the early to middle stages. Though she likes to think she is already 90 years old, this sweet 89-year-old lady welcomes us each week and loves singing along to the familiar music we present to her. She may not remember who we are each week, or that she has repeated the same couple of sentences 3 times already, but she does remember the lyrics to old songs she grew up hearing. Why is that? 

This topic of music on the effects of Alzheimer’s disease has been and continues to be studied by researchers all around the world. Over recent years, stories have been hitting the news about the positive effects music has on elderly patients with dementia and Alzheimer’s. A story Atlanta Alive did on music therapy in memory units of nursing homes brought tears to a news anchor because, he describes, it’s an eye-opening experience seeing how beneficial music therapy is in bringing these patients momentarily out of their confusion and back into good times of the past.

Researchers in a 2014 study titled, The Role of Singing Familiar Songs in Encouraging Conversation Among People with Middle to Late Stage Alzheimer’s Disease report that this neurodegenerative disease causes the loss of more than just memory and cognition. It affects communication both expressively and receptively, making it troublesome for these patients to speak fluidly, spontaneously, or purposefully and thus can produce social isolation (Dassa & Amir, 2014).

While our client is still capable of producing speech, it is upon arriving to her house that we can usually hear her humming and making nonsensical vocalizations to herself, filling the silence. It seems that she craves music and dialogue, and we have the privilege of providing that for her!

Two weeks ago, I sang “Battle Hymn of the Republic” with the very catchy “Glory, glory, hallelujah” refrain. She kind of nodded along, but did not sing along much at all. Just last week, I presented the song again and she sang along every time that refrain came up, with enthusiasm! She even sang parts of the verses too. She seemed more present and moved her feet along to the beat. Did the repetition of the song spark an uplifting memory within her? Connie Tomaino, a well-renowned music therapist who works mainly with individuals who have suffered from stroke, other brain injury, and neurodegenerative diseases, states that the structural form of music (melody, lyrics) is not the only thing people remember about familiar songs, but that these songs also elicit memories and “rich associations” related to the song. Listening or singing along to these memorable tunes can bring to the forefront a sense of self that may have gotten lost through the progressive disease (Tomaino, 2002). Oliver Sacks, neurologist and author of Musicophilia: Tales of Music and the Brain, calls music a “memory aid that elicits long-forgotten emotions and associations, giving the patient access to moods, memories, and thoughts” (Sacks, 2008).  

It is well known that individuals with Alzheimer’s have difficulty staying focused and engaged in the topic at hand. Despite this, the researchers found in the aforementioned 2014 study that after singing familiar songs with a group of 65-83-year olds with middle to late stage Alzheimer’s disease twice a week for 4 weeks, the participants were more able to concentrate and take part in the following conversations than they were able to before without music (Dassa & Amir, 2014).  

               Using music therapy with individuals with Alzheimer’s disease is beneficial in a variety of ways. Participating in singing or playing along to familiar songs allows the client to feel a sense of belonging, a sense of accomplishment; engage in communication, gross and fine motor movements, breath control, relaxation; and of course recall memories associated with the music, which can bring back that sense of self, maintaining their dignity. Dassa & Amir reference a 2009 study concluding that, “in a disease that destroys memory, preserved musical memory could serve as an important tool to enhance the quality of life for people who have lost so many other abilities” (Dassa & Amir, 2014).

It is a joy to watch our client sing along and exercise gross and fine motor movements to the beat of the song. She always expresses her gratitude when we are leaving and asks us to come again! After researching more about music therapy with patients with Alzheimer’s, I now plan on integrating a little more dialogue and open-ended questions into the sessions after the songs to not only engage our client in conversation, but also to assess how much and what kinds of memories and associations the songs evoke in her.

                                                                References

Dassa, A., & Amir, D. (2014). The role of singing familiar songs in encouraging conversation among people with middle to late stage Alzheimer’s disease.                Journal of Music Therapy, 51(2), 131-153. doi: 10.1093/jmt/thu007.

Sacks, O. (2008). Musicophilia – Tales of music and the brain. New York: Alfred A. Knopf.

Tomaino, C. (2002). The role of music in the rehabilitation of persons with neurologic diseases. Music Therapy Today (online). Retrieved from  http://www.wfmt.info/Musictherapyworld

WHAT'S IT LIKE BEING A HARMONY KIDS MUSIC TEACHER?

What’s it like being a Harmony Kids music teacher?

 I have worked for Therabeat Inc. since March 2012. My first job as a Therabeat Inc. employee was a Kindermusik educator. I was so excited to begin this part of my job as I had completed my Kindermusik educator training the previous summer. I was so anxious to teach my first class. I had so many notes and had written out exactly what I wanted to say. I was so nervous because I wanted each family to know just how important music is to the development of their child. I am so passionate about music therapy and the benefits of music for the brain. I prayed that I could be that vessel for each parent to learn how to best help their child develop a love for music. Music has always been my saving grace. I have been apart of music for as long as I can remember. It was always apart of me. It was what I turned to when I felt alone and when I felt joyful. I long each and every day to share just a glimpse of that passion with the families and children I serve.

 In June 2014, Therabeat Inc. moved to teaching Harmony Kids music classes. This seemed like a perfect fit, because as a music therapist we understand how to develop curriculum. We know how to design each session to fit the needs of the children, socially, emotionally, and physically. The sessions are developed to incorporate the levels of play and to target the age appropriate development for each child. It has been an incredible blessing and the highlight of my week to see kids return each week to class. They run down the hall, bursting with energy and relationships have formed. Families have become friends and the children have become friends. There is a routine and sense of predictability in the sessions. I love when families show me videos of their child singing the songs at home and in their daily life. Children are forming lasting memories and they are doing it with music!

 I highly recommend Harmony Kids music classes! Music is a wonderful medium to promote joy, relationships, and physical well-being. I hope to see you in a class this semester!

 Chelsea Kinsler LPMT, MT-BC