As I listened to Camden neighbor, Julie Szamocki, tell me about her career as a music therapist who works in hospice care, I was reminded, once again, of the power of music.
Julie is a board certified music therapist. She works as a member of a health care team that evaluates the needs of hospice patients from many perspectives. Music therapy is often recommended as part of a care plan. “We all address the same care goals,” Julie says. Her job is to help achieve those goals through music.
When she meets patients, her first task is to discover their musical preferences and history. These often far-reaching musical conversations allow Julie to establish a rapport and deep level of trust with her patients. “Music lives in the emotional center of our brains, which means we can use it to access things that are very meaningful and sometimes difficult to talk about,” she said.
The music Julie’s patients choose to sing, listen to, talk about or create together with her, can transform their lives – even in the face of death.
Here’s one, small transforming example, among many:
One of Julie’s nursing home hospice patients was having a hard day. She’d wandered off unbeknownst to the staff. In response, they put a “Wander Guard” on her ankle so they would be alerted to her whereabouts at all times. The woman was embarrassed and angry. She abhorred her loss of independence.
When the woman was at the height of her stress and anger over the situation, Julie came for a visit. She listened intently to the story, and then they decided to write a song about the incident. What emerged, sung to the tune of Winter Wonderland, was “Walking with a Blasted Wander Guard.” The songwriting made them both laugh out loud, a lot, and brought about an important change in the woman’s heart and state of mind.
Julie and this patient went on to write more songs together, even after the woman could no longer sing, including a special lullaby she wrote and Julie recorded for her great grandchildren.
For family members who are in hospice with a loved one, music therapy shifts the focus from the medical aspects of the vigil, to the human aspect. “Music therapy in that setting is so nice because it helps everyone move from distress and worry…to expressions of sorrow, joy, honor or blessings through music.”
Julie added, “You know, people often ask, ‘How do you work with people who are dying?’ Actually, I’m working with people who are living, and we are very much in the life stream while we’re doing music…music draws us to the joy, the purpose and meaning of life.”
The American Music Therapy Association’s website is filled with useful information about this form of therapy and how it’s used in a variety of medical settings. Visit www.musictherapy.org.