Arts and Entertainment

Patients find this prescription for therapy is music to their ears

During a recent therapy session with Jan Stouffer, right, a board-certified music therapist at Penn State Health Milton S. Hershey Medical Center, Anita Heckert of Hershey felt her mood dramatically change. “I knew I was profoundly sad before, and I knew I felt very, very different after music therapy,” Heckert, left, said. “I hadn’t been feeling strong at all, but seemingly effortlessly, Jan gave that gift back to me." Credit: Penn State. Creative Commons

After 12 days in the hospital, Hershey resident Anita Heckert could tell her optimism was waning, so when her occupational therapist suggested music therapy, she was game.

“To have someone come and spend time with me that didn’t involve needles, drawing blood or an MRI was very appealing,” said Heckert who was in Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center for complications due to colon cancer.

As Jan Stouffer, board-certified music therapist with the Music Therapy Program at the Milton S. Hershey Medical Center, quietly played guitar, she gave Heckert an ocean drum to play.

“I absolutely love the relationship that I get to have with patients and families through the music,” said Marissa Aulenbach, a board-certified music therapist at Penn State Children’s Hospital. “That’s what music therapy is.” Aulenbach, rear, works with Zach and Rachel Hoover as they console their 4-month-old son, Caden, during his stay in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit at the Children’s Hospital. Credit: Penn State. Creative Commons

During a recent therapy session with Jan Stouffer, right, a board-certified music therapist at Penn State Health Milton S. Hershey Medical Center, Anita Heckert of Hershey felt her mood dramatically change. “I knew I was profoundly sad before, and I knew I felt very, very different after music therapy,” Heckert, left, said. “I hadn’t been feeling strong at all, but seemingly effortlessly, Jan gave that gift back to me." Credit: Penn State. Creative Commons

Delaney Boone, a music therapist intern at Penn State Health Milton S. Hershey Medical Center, plays music and sings songs during a recent group therapy session with occupational therapy at Penn State Cancer Institute. Credit: Penn State. Creative Commons

“The biggest misconception is that we are entertainment and we’re just there to play some music,” said Marissa Aulenbach, a board-certified music therapist at Penn State Children’s Hospital. Aulenbach is seen here working with 4-month-old Caden Hoover during his stay in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit at the Children’s Hospital. Credit: Penn State. Creative Commons

“I am remembering things I haven’t thought about in years,” said Anita Heckert, as she becomes emotional during a recent therapy session at Penn State Cancer Institute with Jan Stouffer, a board-certified music therapist at Penn State Health Milton S. Hershey Medical Center. Credit: Penn State. Creative Commons

Delaney Boone, center, a music therapist intern at Penn State Health Milton S. Hershey Medical Center, plays music and sings songs during a recent group therapy session with occupational therapy at Penn State Cancer Institute. Credit: Penn State. Creative Commons

“We are part of the therapy team,” said Marissa Aulenbach, a board-certified music therapist at Penn State Children’s Hospital. “We’re figuring out what goals does this patient have or what needs are we trying to meet.” Aulenbach is seen here working with registered nurse Lauren Libhart while she tends to 4-month-old Caden Hoover during his stay in the children’s hospital for a heart condition. Credit: Penn State. Creative Commons

Jan Stouffer, a board-certified music therapist at Penn State Health Milton S. Hershey Medical Center, works with Vladimire de Abreu and his wife, Samia, during a recent infusion session at Penn State Cancer Institute. “Mine is such an insignificant role compared to what the nurses do,” said Stouffer, “but live music does really change the atmosphere in the room, bring down tension and increase the ability of everyone to function." Credit: Penn State. Creative Commons

Theresa LaTorre, left, chooses a musical instrument from Andrea Yerger, an occupational therapist at Penn State Health Milton S. Hershey Medical Center, during a group therapy session at Penn State Cancer Institute. Yerger regularly works with the team from music therapy to help patients in group and individual sessions. Credit: Penn State. Creative Commons

Jan Stouffer, a board-certified music therapist at Penn State Health Milton S. Hershey Medical Center, recently made rounds to work with patients in the infusion therapy clinic at Penn State Cancer Institute. Credit: Penn State. Creative Commons

Theresa LaTorre, rear, follows along as Christina Myers, a board-certified music therapist at Penn State Health Milton S. Hershey Medical Center, foreground, teams up with occupational therapy, during a group therapy session at Penn State Cancer Institute. Credit: Penn State. Creative Commons

Christina Myers, right, a board-certified music therapist at Penn State Health Milton S. Hershey Medical Center, works with Anita Heckert during a recent group therapy session at Penn State Cancer Institute. Credit: Penn State. Creative Commons

“I absolutely love the relationship that I get to have with patients and families through the music,” said Marissa Aulenbach, a board-certified music therapist at Penn State Children’s Hospital. “That’s what music therapy is.” Aulenbach, rear, works with Zach and Rachel Hoover as they console their 4-month-old son, Caden, during his stay in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit at the Children’s Hospital. Credit: Penn State. Creative Commons

During a recent therapy session with Jan Stouffer, right, a board-certified music therapist at Penn State Health Milton S. Hershey Medical Center, Anita Heckert of Hershey felt her mood dramatically change. “I knew I was profoundly sad before, and I knew I felt very, very different after music therapy,” Heckert, left, said. “I hadn’t been feeling strong at all, but seemingly effortlessly, Jan gave that gift back to me." Credit: Penn State. Creative Commons

Delaney Boone, a music therapist intern at Penn State Health Milton S. Hershey Medical Center, plays music and sings songs during a recent group therapy session with occupational therapy at Penn State Cancer Institute. Credit: Penn State. Creative Commons

“The biggest misconception is that we are entertainment and we’re just there to play some music,” said Marissa Aulenbach, a board-certified music therapist at Penn State Children’s Hospital. Aulenbach is seen here working with 4-month-old Caden Hoover during his stay in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit at the Children’s Hospital. Credit: Penn State. Creative Commons

“I am remembering things I haven’t thought about in years,” said Anita Heckert, as she becomes emotional during a recent therapy session at Penn State Cancer Institute with Jan Stouffer, a board-certified music therapist at Penn State Health Milton S. Hershey Medical Center. Credit: Penn State. Creative Commons

Delaney Boone, center, a music therapist intern at Penn State Health Milton S. Hershey Medical Center, plays music and sings songs during a recent group therapy session with occupational therapy at Penn State Cancer Institute. Credit: Penn State. Creative Commons

“We are part of the therapy team,” said Marissa Aulenbach, a board-certified music therapist at Penn State Children’s Hospital. “We’re figuring out what goals does this patient have or what needs are we trying to meet.” Aulenbach is seen here working with registered nurse Lauren Libhart while she tends to 4-month-old Caden Hoover during his stay in the children’s hospital for a heart condition. Credit: Penn State. Creative Commons

Jan Stouffer, a board-certified music therapist at Penn State Health Milton S. Hershey Medical Center, works with Vladimire de Abreu and his wife, Samia, during a recent infusion session at Penn State Cancer Institute. “Mine is such an insignificant role compared to what the nurses do,” said Stouffer, “but live music does really change the atmosphere in the room, bring down tension and increase the ability of everyone to function." Credit: Penn State. Creative Commons

Theresa LaTorre, left, chooses a musical instrument from Andrea Yerger, an occupational therapist at Penn State Health Milton S. Hershey Medical Center, during a group therapy session at Penn State Cancer Institute. Yerger regularly works with the team from music therapy to help patients in group and individual sessions. Credit: Penn State. Creative Commons

Jan Stouffer, a board-certified music therapist at Penn State Health Milton S. Hershey Medical Center, recently made rounds to work with patients in the infusion therapy clinic at Penn State Cancer Institute. Credit: Penn State. Creative Commons

Theresa LaTorre, rear, follows along as Christina Myers, a board-certified music therapist at Penn State Health Milton S. Hershey Medical Center, foreground, teams up with occupational therapy, during a group therapy session at Penn State Cancer Institute. Credit: Penn State. Creative Commons

Christina Myers, right, a board-certified music therapist at Penn State Health Milton S. Hershey Medical Center, works with Anita Heckert during a recent group therapy session at Penn State Cancer Institute. Credit: Penn State. Creative Commons

Hundreds of small ball bearings in the drum combined to sound like gentle waves at low tide coming across the sand—and transported Heckert back to a happy day years ago when she and her sister, each with their small sons, visited Assateague Island and frolicked on the beach with six wild ponies splashing nearby.

As Stouffer encouraged her to remember the strong and faithful mother she had been in that moment, she reminded her, “That person still exists—you are that person.” The encounter served as a turning point in Heckert’s emotional outlook.

“I knew I was profoundly sad before, and I knew I felt very, very different after music therapy,” Heckert said. “I hadn’t been feeling strong at all, but seemingly effortlessly, Jan gave that gift back to me. I can go back to that very pleasant feeling Jan brought to me, and I can now say that I will get through this.”

By manipulating the elements of a song, music therapists help control a patient’s pain and anxiety, ease adjustment to the hospital setting and promote rehabilitation, Stouffer said.

“Our bodies are rhythmic beings,” she said. “Our heart beats and blood flow are rhythmic, and when we are exposed to music with rhythm, our bodies want to become synchronized with the rhythms in our environment.”

Working under therapy services, the music therapists respond to physician consults, creating an individualized treatment plan to address physical, emotional, cognitive and social needs.

“I have worked with unresponsive patients on a ventilator, and they don’t open their eyes and can’t tell me if the music is helping, but it has been the case repeatedly that I play sedative music, and their respiratory rate calms even further,” Stouffer said.

Learn more about the work of music therapists in this Penn State Medicine story.

By manipulating the elements of a song, music therapists at Penn State Health Milton S. Hershey Medical Center help control a patient’s pain and anxiety, ease adjustment to the hospital setting and promote rehabilitation. Credit: Penn State Health. 

Last Updated February 14, 2019

Contact

Tags