May 11, 2020 | Blogs and News
By Mireille K. — 1 min read —
Edith, a child life specialist at Adventist Health White Memorial Hospital, works with children and families to help them cope with the challenges of hospitalization, illness, and treatments. As a valuable resource to our Music Therapists, she ensures patients have access to Music Therapy sessions and the musical instruments recently donated by Children’s Music Fund in collaboration with the Water Buffalo Club.
Although Edith’s job is to take care of her patients, she finds a way to redefine them and make them something more than their illnesses. Her mission is to give them a sense of normalcy, even if only for a few minutes, by exposing them to the beauty of music.
First-hand Views on How Music Therapy Heals
Having seen the benefits of music therapy first-hand, Edith shares the value of services from Children’s Music Fund, explaining how well Music Therapy works.
It takes the “H” for harsh out of hospital. It makes the IVs, the pain, the pulse oximeters, the blood pressure cuffs, all disappear. Because for that special Music Therapy session, the kids are just focused on the sound their instrument can make and that feeling the song being played is creating inside of them.
More than a distraction though, Edith says that it reconnects them to feelings and emotions they haven’t experienced in a while. “[It] can range from nostalgia, to joy, all the way to just lightheartedness.” It also helps with patients who feel hopeless and that life has no meaning anymore. Edith says that,
For our teens facing suicidal thoughts, Music Therapy gives them hope and light…when the Music Therapist from Children’s Music Fund comes in with instruments, it gives them an opportunity for them to have a voice, it’s like an oasis after walking through the desert.
Music Therapy is transformational and Edith recognizes that it is powerful because, “it is healing, it is rejuvenating, it is uplifting and it is calming all in one.”
Learn more about Music Therapy, it’s benefits and the services we provide here.