Music Therapy in the Neo Natal Intensive Care Unit (NICU)

Content by Alaina LeBlanc

            Hospital settings can be notorious for generating loud and unpleasant noises. The positive and negative effects of noise contribute to an individual’s overall state of mind, physical, and mental health. 

           A premature baby in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU), can hear a large range of sounds. Babies in the womb can hear their mother’s heartbeat and the low register sounds her parents’ voices. They can also hear the delicate whooshing sounds of their mother’s womb before they emerge into the world. After their birth, they hear high register beeps of machines and other babies crying and those become their first sounds of their new world.

             Music therapy has the ability to generate calming noise to counteract the influences of a loud, jarring, and unpredictable environment such as a hospital setting. It has the unique characteristic to create harmony, balance, and tranquility to a newborn baby.

              When working with infants in the NICU,  there is the unique opportunity to build a positive experience with sound from the ground up. Introducing these tiny babies to music therapy is a wonderful first step in creating a positive and peaceful environment in which to build a strong musical foundation.

              Infants who are fortunate enough to reap the benefits of music therapy are then accustomed to it as a practice and can therefore positively respond to it in years to come.

             Music therapy encourages a peaceful state of mind, while also tapping into the creativity of music as an art form. When children hear the articulate sounds of a melody from a young age they become familiar with music and can then connect on a higher emotional level.

       “The PATTERNS (Preventive Approach to Traumatic Experience by Resourcing the Nervous System) NICU music therapy model optimizes the auditory and dynamic environment as a critical component in the treatment protocol for neonates (Stewart 2009). As a preemptive treatment program to prevent and treat potential trauma incurred by neonates during their time in the NICU, a prime objective is to avoid heightened arousal and the complications that accompany it. PATTERNS recognizes the complex circumstances that affect the infant, family, and staff as a cohesive whole; deconstructs the events and factors that could lead to trauma; and designs a prevention protocol. Because, in this model, the challenge of noise and the use of music are integrated into the whole experience of the infant, family, and staff, music is used to soothe and mask, whereas noise is avoided or at least minimized.” 1  

1   Stewart, Kristen,  Music and Medicine, “PATTERNS - A Model for Evaluating Trauma in NICU Music THerapy: Part 1 - Theory and Design”  Volume 1, Number 1,  July 2009, 29-40  Print.

A CMF Therapist Testimonial

Music Therapy: Healing Through Music 

Contributors: Brooke Sinang, MT-BC; Content by Josh Pineda Children’s Music Fund (CMF) therapists are continually motivated to help children heal through music. We here at CMF want to share some stories of music therapy in action, from the perspective of our certified and outstanding therapists The following is one example of music therapy at work, using musical treatments to reach wellness goals. CMF therapist Brooke Sinang shares an experience she had with one of her teenage patients who used songwriting to both work through her problems, as well as set up a path for her future: "I worked as a music therapist with a 16 y/o female who was struggling with addiction to marijuana and mental health issues. She was born to an abusive family and eventually was adopted by a caring woman who then became terminally ill. Her adoptive mother was actively dying during the time she was in treatment. She had a lot of anger, grief, identity issues among other social-emotional difficulties. I worked with her using music therapy songwriting techniques to allow her to find her voice and express her emotions. This young woman was not yet ready to process the loss of her mother at that time, but instead was able to process fears about college, finding a job and staying sober after her mom was gone. I helped her to find a reggae beat inspired by one her favorite artists Bob Marley, and taught her the chords on keyboard. We wrote lyrics together outlining her fears, goals and dreams, she sang and played several tracks until she was satisfied with the finished result. We then verbally processed practical steps, such as internships and volunteer work, which would enable her to get where she wanted to go. After the recording was finished, she smiled and expressed that she couldn't believe she had written a song. Her sense of worth, and feelings of empowerment was palpable and she no longer seemed overwhelmed with anxiety about the future. She had been able to use the music to process and validate her current feelings, and also create a future using tangible goals and a plan of action. All of this created a song that she felt proud of. " In this amazing case of therapeutic methods in action, music therapy techniques helped to rehabilitate and emotionally heal a teenager and put her on the right path towards success. Using an effective personalized approach, Brooke Sinang was able to help her patient cope and reach her goals, in way that was truly inspiring and influential. Our music therapists are trained to provide this quality of care and investment, delivering support to children in need. Music therapy is a valuable practice in helping to build healthy individuals and communities, all through the power of musical performance and expression. Help us to connect patients with our incredible team of music therapists by donating or volunteering today. Visit www.theCMF.org for more information.

Therapeutic Techniques of The Trade

Contributors: Brooke Sinang, MT-BC, Jessica Brizuela MT-BC, and Raffi Tachdjian, MD, MPH, Content by Josh Pineda.

Illustration by Sienna Holmes

Children’s Music Fund (CMF) continually strives to promote the powerful ways that music can help heal through Music Therapy. What most people don’t realize is that you can adapt these therapeutic exercises to your daily routine, as a means of stress-relief and meditation. The American Music Therapy Association notes that music therapy targets seven treatment goals: overall wellness, stress management, expression of feelings, communication, improvement of memory, and physical rehabilitation. As CMF promotes, there are many ways to use music to treat non-musical goals, including the following simple practices suggested by our own CMF therapists.

As our founder and president Dr. Raffi Tachdjian notes, “Music therapy provides that reassurance, self-acceptance, and empowerment of the developing personality. With proper and adequate use of music therapy, [patients] can achieve great heights in the physical, psychological, and social aspects of his or her daily life.” Music therapy is both a healthful practice and an invigorating experience, which helps anyone cope with their problems through the power of musical engagement and performance.

Not only is it energizing exercise but music therapy is also an excellent means of self-expression and discovery, especially for youth. “Often teens have difficulty expressing their emotions verbally, and lyrics can help them to find the right words to express and relate to their emotions,” states CMF therapist Brooke Sinang. “Many times I hear adolescents say that they can relate to music that is dark, depressing or angry. It can be extremely validating and therapeutic for teens to be able to process these emotions and learn more about themselves in order to effectively change.” For these adolescents, music provides them with a means of communicating their emotions at a point in their life when feelings are confusing and generally inarticulated. By finding and listening to music that mirrors one’s emotions, music therapy becomes a comfortable way of working out problems and discovering one’s passions.

There’s easy ways of integrating effective music therapy techniques into your daily regimen. As an accessible daily practice,CMF therapist Jessica Brizuela suggests using lyrical interpretation as a stress-relieving tool. In one example, she notes a contemporary song that serves as a great therapeutic exercise—Stressed Out by the duo Twenty-One Pilots: “It is great for teens to relate to as it lists all the worries in the verses, then the chorus validates those stressed feelings, "wish we could turn back time to the good old days when our mommas sang us to sleep but now we're stressed out." Teens can integrate music therapy techniques by creating their own lyrics (lyric substitution) to the verses, writing out their worries. Sometimes, it's good to just let them out - writing or saying it so that they are not left inside.” It’s amazing how these simple exercises can prove so incredibly beneficial in aiding patients self-sooth. 

Music therapy has incredible effects, not just on individuals, but their surrounding community as well. Our founder puts it best: “The power of music therapy can be used as a tremendous positive impact for teenagers, their families and friends, and society in general. Their story building (imagery) through music therapy becomes their voice and their words. Their musical instrument delivers the notes and lyrics that make up that story that needs to be communicated: Therein lies the 'therapy’.” 

Music is a cultural process and by helping children heal and express themselves through listening and playing instruments, music therapy helps improve the community one child at a time. Help us on our mission of healing through music by donating or volunteering today. Visit www.theCMF.org for more information.