No adults here: Music works for kids, too
Children benefit too when methods are adapted
Music therapy can be used effectively with children if it is adapted appropriately, says Joanne Loewy, DA, MT-BC, music therapy consultant at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and coordinator of music therapy at Beth Israel Medical Center in New York City. "The work is more symbolic and metaphoric. If you were working with a child who is dying and they brought a Humpty Dumpty, you would work through the symbols of the song rather than talking directly about death," explains Loewy. Parents often are included in music therapy sessions too, because the child’s ego isn’t fully developed yet.
The graduate school Loewy attended focused on music psychotherapy that employs a mind/ body approach. Therefore, when she works with children, she is not only focusing on the child’s mind and spirit and how he or she is coping, but also on determining how the coping skills or lack of skills interact with the body.
Combining music with imagery
For example, with asthma patients, live music is entrained to the breath rate of the patient and used to slow it down and provide a relaxation experience. The music also is combined with imagery. The child might be told to imagine going to a favorite place, and then after a mini-assessment for breath rate, the appropriate music would be selected. The live music could be guitar, piano, drum, or even a violin. "The instrument you choose doesn’t matter as much as providing a time to assess the breath rate and match it, then slow it down," says Loewy. The musicians in these cases are always music therapists.
Loewy currently is doing a study of the effects of music therapy on children with asthma. In the study, the children’s lung capacity is evaluated with a spirometer, which provides the most accurate reading of lung volume available. The control group then rests for half an hour while the music therapy group receives therapy through imagery, live music, and relaxation, followed by inquiry into each child’s choice of imagery. The child then blows on a wind instrument to slow his or her breathing down.
"What we hope to achieve in day-to-day sessions is to have the child empowered to gain control of their body. That happens through talking about music, working within the music, and through playing a wind instrument where they learn to breathe correctly," says Loewy.
Music therapy also can be used to sedate babies and toddlers before medical tests. Chanting will not only relax young children, it often puts them to sleep, says Loewy.
Sources
For more information on music therapy, contact:
• American Music Therapy Association, 8455 Colesville Road, Suite 1000, Silver Spring, MD 20910. Telephone: (301) 589-3300. Fax: (301) 589-5175. E-mail: info@ musictherapy.org. Web site: http://www.musictherapy.org.
• Brian Abrams, MMT, MT-BC, Director of Music Therapy, University of Pennsylvania Cancer Center, 1530 Locust St., Apt. 2A1, Philadelphia, PA 19102. Telephone: (215) 545-5967. E-mail: [email protected].
• Connie Tomaino, DA, MT-BC, Director, Department of Music Therapy, Institute for Music and Neurologic Functions, Beth Abraham Health Services, 612 Allerton Ave., Bronx, NY 10467. Telephone: (718) 519-4236. Fax: (718) 519-4130. Web site: http://www.bethab.org (leave messages on note board on site).
For more information on including children in music therapy programs, contact:
• Joanne Loewy, DA, MT-BC, Music Therapy Consultant, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and Coordinator of Music Therapy, Beth Israel Medical Center, Four Fierman, 317 E. 17th St., New York, NY 10003. Telephone: (212) 420-3484. Fax: (212) 420-2724.
For more information on creating a tape library, contact:
• Laura Rydholm, RN, MS, Health Ministries Facilitator, Immanuel St. Joseph’s Mayo Health System, 1025 Marsh St., Box 8673, Mankato, MN 56002-8673. Telephone: (507) 389-4616. Fax: (507) 345-2926. E-mail: [email protected].
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