Tune In
Music has Startling Power to Heal
By DIANE YORK
We have always known the power of music. The
dawn chorus of birds gives us hope. The military tattoo and the marching
band build our spirits and make us feel stronger. The drums of Latin
rhythms stir our passions.
Music can pull us from lethargy to energy,
from sorrow to joy. If it does all these things to our psyches, can it
also help our bodies heal? More and more researchers are saying yes,
music has a significant effect on healing.
Numerous past studies have indicated that
music can increase the rate of healing in post-operative patients.
Measured effects include: reduction of blood pressure and inflammation,
slowing of heart rate and decreased need for pain medication. In
addition, a just-released study by surgeon and pianist Claudius Conrad
shows that post-op patients exposed to therapeutic music have increased
levels of pituitary growth hormone, which is crucial for healing.
Other recent research is showing the possible
benefits of music therapy in the areas of increased learning and
adaptation rates in children with developmental disorders, autism,
traumatic brain injury and other brain disorders.
The value of music in healing is now so acknowledged
that music therapy is gaining in stature as an important part of a
patient’s treatment plan. Two kinds of individuals work in this field:
music therapists and therapeutic musicians.
Music therapists have obtained a four-year degree and
are licensed and credentialed. Hospitals hire music therapists to work
with patients. Therapeutic musicians have participated in a specialty
program leading to that designation. They are privately hired by a
family or by a facility like a convalescent or assisted-living
residence.
Leading Patients to Healing
Cynthy Johnson, a local therapeutic musician,
explained the difference between her specialty and music therapy: “In
music therapy you are pushing the patient toward a goal. With
therapeutic music, you lead the patient to you.”
Johnson plays the harp, using it to draw patients out
or to help them relax and communicate. “The type of music the patient
likes is key,” she said. “They will not respond to the wrong music.
Frequently what people love the most is the music they heard during
their courtship years.”
One of her favorite stories is that of a teenager who
was in coma following an automobile accident.
“Her grandmother asked me to help. I asked about [the
girl’s] favorite music, which was Celtic, and instructed her to put
earphones on her grand-daughter with CDs playing [Celtic music I
recorded]. Happily, the girl woke up several days later. She told her
grandmother that she remembered the music from when she was in coma and
loved it. She wanted to meet the lady who gave her that music. She made
great progress after that.”
Johnson said she is often asked to work with stroke
patients who are trying to regain use of their limbs or voice. “In one
case the occupational therapist was trying to get a man to use his hands
in sync. I got him to work on the harp using both hands. He could hear
the difference in sound made by each hand and alter his movement to
improve his coordination.
“The harp is an excellent biofeedback machine,” she
added. “You can instantly hear when you improve.”
Pathways in the Brain Music therapy has become an
important avenue to reach and connect with patients who have
Alzheimer’s, dementia, stroke, traumatic brain injury and other
brain-related disorders. It is as though music has its own circuitry
that bypasses deteriorated and damaged pathways in the brain, allowing
the person to once again command his or her limbs.
Amazing stories of the effect of music on patients
were first popularized by neurologist Oliver Sacks in his book
“Awakenings.” Sacks describes the effect that music had on otherwise
immobile, frozen Parkinson’s patients. Men and women who could not move
or speak suddenly became fluid, could sing entire songs, move their
limbs, rise from a chair and sway to the music.
Gordonsville resident Jim Perry was so fascinated by
the field that he went back to school at age 60 to become a music
therapist. A skilled guitar player, he works with eight to 12 facilities
in the area as well as with private patients.
He explained that with Alzheimer’s patients, you may
not be able to bring about much improvement but you can work at helping
them keep existing skills.
“I was doing group music therapy in a nursing home,”
Perry recalled. “This one man came each day, looked angry, said nothing
and totally refused to participate. He did not even tap his toe to the
music. I suggested to staff that perhaps he should not attend since he
did not look as though he were enjoying it. The staff person said, ‘What
you do not know is that these sessions are the only time we see him sit
still for 45 minutes. The rest of the time he is constantly agitated,
roaming around, getting into trouble.’”
A second extreme example is a female Alzheimer’s
patient of his who was cared for in her home.
“She had no recent memory and could not learn new
things,” Perry said. “Each time I came I had to introduce myself. Each
time she saw the [autoharp] she said ‘What is that?’ But, over time, I
was able to teach her to accompany herself in song on the harp with a
few chords.
“Her muscle memory or music memory took over and she
did learn to play the harp. It was amazing to see.”
Music in the Budget
Typically, music therapy is not covered by private
insurance or by Medicare. Fees for this therapy are usually paid out of
a facility’s recreation budget. Some healthcare professionals are
convinced that the benefits of music therapy are worth the cost and
effort.
Covenant Woods, a Richmond-area private-pay
convalescent hospital, does not get reim-bursed for the music therapy it
offers. Yet Shannon Marling, manager of health & wellness recreation and
the recreational therapist there, firmly believes in the value of what
Perry and Johnson contribute to her patients.
“Residents who are experiencing agitation and pain
can get relief,” said Marling. “We see them become more relaxed, less
anxious. We see that people who have lost the use of verbal skills due
to dementia can sing an entire song all the way through. Following music
therapy, the patients have increased eye contact with others, more
smiles, more receptiveness to staff and others.
“They have had a mental exchange they other-wise
could not have had and they are aware of it.”
Marling explained one reason why music therapy is so
successful: “In music there is a purpose to the movement, as opposed to
rehab where it is just movement for the sake of movement. Patients tend
to be able to move faster with music and have increased range of
motion.”
The positive effect on people with Alzheimer’s
is confirmed by Marling: “We had one resident in late stage Alzheimer’s,
all she would do was sleep. But with music therapy provided by Cynthy,
she responded and came alive again.”
Using Music to Meet Goals
Melissa Owens is a full-time music therapist with the
VCU Health System. She gets referrals from social workers, chaplains and
counselors to work with a wide variety of patients.
Her job is to implement the goals of the therapy team
using her music. For example, if a treatment plan calls for three
minutes of standing, she can have the patient stand and move to the
music. If a patient cannot speak and the treatment plan calls for
vocalization of a certain duration, she have him hum or sing for that
time.
She uses music to reduce pain, anxiety and stress in
her patients. Recently, a young man who had undergone multiple surgeries
was sent to her. He was in a lot of pain and could not sleep. He was
having difficulty participating in rehabilitation because of lack of
sleep.
“He had no interest in what I was doing. He told me
the only music he liked was rap,” said Owens. “I sat near him and began
to strum my guitar and sing a low-key song. Within minutes he was sound
asleep. I made him tapes he could play before bed at night. It worked.
He was very grate-ful.”
Marsha Robbins is a speech therapist who frequently
refers patients from the Medical College of Virginia’s traumatic brain
injury unit to Owens. “Music therapy can address a number of problems
with the brain injury patient,” she said. “It can increase focus and
attention—focus is a big problem for our patients.”
Robbins described another practical benefit of music
therapy: “It also addresses breathing problems as they relate to speech.
Often, you cannot get a patient to alter his breathing so it is in sync
with his vocalization, but using music therapy you can coordinate
speech, breathing and music.
“With apraxia, a motor planning problem, the patient
may know what he wants to say but can-not form the words or vocalize
them,” Robbins went on. “They may be able to say whole sentences while
singing but not say a word otherwise. Melissa has helped many patients
with these problems to develop the ability to express themselves using
song.”
The Language of Music
Robbins recounted the story of a man who was severely
speech-impaired after a stroke.
“We worked up a couple of phrases for him to
express basic needs such as, ‘I am hungry’ or ‘I want to get up.’
Melissa was able to make these into a song. When prompted by his wife,
he could now verbalize these desires as long as they were in song. His
wife was thrilled.
Robbins concluded, “Often, the first vocalization
that comes from a patient who has been left speech-less from traumatic
brain injury or stroke comes from exposure to music therapy.”
Another new area of exploration concerns music and
depression. Can music therapy help clinical depression?
Although it can be hard to answer conclusively, a
recent review of five existing studies on the subject showed that music
therapy had substantial positive results for depressed patients in four
of the studies. Anna Maratos, lead author of the report, concluded that
using music therapy to treat depression “is well worth further
investigation.”
When asked about depression, Robbins said that
while she was not qualified to make a judgment, her feeling is that
music therapy does improve the mood of patients. “They are able to laugh
and cry and express feel-“We see them become more relaxed, less anxious.
We see that people who have lost the use of verbal skills due to
dementia can sing an entire song all the way through.”Music therapist
Take Note
American Music Therapy Association
(301) 589-3300
www.musictherapy.org
To locate a music therapist, contact AMTA and include
your postal address with your request to receive a cur-rent list of
qualified therapists in your area.
National Standards Board for Therapeutic
Musicians
www.therapeuticmusician.com Click on “Member Program Directory” to
reach a list of links to accredited programs.
Diane York lives in Richmond and frequently
writes about health and fitness. She has a master’s degree in
rehabilitation counseling.
