What happens to the Body During Music Therapy?

Music’s therapeutic qualities are impressive and far reaching.  In pain management, music provides distraction and cognitive imagery to aide relaxation.  It also reduces pain perception by blocking pain impulses to the brain at the spinal cord and releasing endorphins, which make us feel good.  Therapeutic music can also help restore lost abilities, such as memory deficits in dementia, or speech and motor deficits following a brain injury or stroke.  One of the fastest growing clinical applications of music therapy is with children with autism spectrum or other developmental disorders, helping improve self-expression, as well as social and shared communication, and perhaps reaching even less measurable goals such as improving self-esteem and quality of life.  

At Children's Music Fund (CMF), we ask parents of children we serve to monitor many different aspects of their child’s functioning and their presenting symptoms before and after a 16-session cycle of CMF funded music therapy.  Parents have told us that after their work with our music therapists, they have noticed improvements in their child’s communication skills, an increase in their general happiness and life satisfaction, an improvement (decrease in) loneliness and boredom, and a decrease in symptoms of pain and anxiety.   

Seeing is believing... Joesph and CMF music therapist Melinda - show us huge smiles after their session.

If you know of a child with a chronic condition or life-altering illness, applications for individual can be found on our website: www.thecmf.org

for more information contact 310-428-0589 or email info@thecmf.org

What is it like to be a Music Therapist?

What's it like to be a Music Therapist with Children's Music Fund?

Children's Music Fund provides individual music therapy for 16 week cycles for children with life altering and chronic conditions. We asked one of our board certified music therapists to give us her thoughts on one of her most recent clients. 

“I’m obviously really good at this.” Jared told me rather matter-of-factly as he finished playing “The Ants Go Marching” on the piano. It took quite a bit of effort not to laugh but to agree with this serious, almost 8 year old.  Jared had begun piano lessons while hospitalized for 6 months fighting Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma.  I was sent by The Children’s Music Fund to provide Music Therapy and to continue the piano once Jared was discharged.  

When I met Jared's family, they were readjusting to “normalcy” and putting the illness behind them.  Although Jared remained the center of attention, the focus and furor at the illness had changed.  Jared was struggling to cope.

Jared is a bright, articulate, perceptive, and musical child. Every week we began with drumming, helping to release and redirect anger.  We explored and improvised on a different instrument every week: ukuleles, glockenspiel, pan flutes, tone chimes, melodica, kalimba, autoharp, as well as numerous percussion instruments.   Being both creative and inquisitive, Jared was delighted to experiment and to create his own music on each instrument.  Time at the piano was also structured and unstructured, allowing for self-expression.  We ended our sessions by singing / reading a book.  At the beginning I sang a page, Jared read a page. However, as weeks passed, Jared began to sing his page happily.  Together we sang and played our “Goodbye” song.

Jared finished the 16 weeks of music therapy confirming that he is a very talented and gifted person.  With increased self-confidence, he learned the importance of expressing himself through music. At only 8 years old, he has developed a deeper appreciation of music and how it makes him feel. No doubt that music will always be an important aspect in his life.  

What a great job I have!

Cathy O'Neil, MT-BC 

CMF Music Therapist

(Name of the client has been changed for privacy purposes.)

Music Heals! What people are saying about Children's Music Fund.

“We are experiencing a wonderful journey”

At 6 months old, Esmerelda was diagnosed Acute Myelogenous Luekemia. At a time when her brain was undergoing crucial and fragile development, Esmerelda was having central nervous system chemotherapy and umbilical cord stem cell transplants.

Esmerelda, now 8, has always had a dream to play the violin. Children’s Music Fund, provides instruments to children with life altering conditions and was happy to provide a violin for Esmerelda to learn to play.  

“We are very thankful for Children's Music Fund, we are experiencing a wonderful journey.  Esmeralda is greatly motivated and music is now a great part of her life. Music is now a great part of her development. She is a straight A student and receiving school awards! ! Thank You so much for all your support without it our Princess wouldn't be achieving one of her heart's desire, which is to play music.  Do to our low income we wouldn't be able to help my Princess.  Children's Music Fund; you guys are amazing! !”