Hope in Harmony: Finding Healing Through Music
Hi Sam’s Fans! This is Jennifer Yurkovich, music therapist from Columbus, Ohio, and owner of JAZY music therapy. I know many of you followed Sam’s Fans posts this past winter about the ‘Hope in Harmony’ project and I wanted to take a moment to let you all know how that project turned out and to talk about our future plans for partnering with Cornerstone of Hope….
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E. Thayer Gaston: Father of Music Therapy – Music Therapy History
Everett Thayer Gaston was born in Oklahoma on July 4, 1901. A trained clinical psychologist, he is now known as the “father of music therapy.” He was active in the 1940s-1960s and greatly helped advance the music therapy profession.
Gaston and Music
Gaston first started studying music in college before switching to pre-medicine after a year….
Working with the Smallest of Patients: Music Therapy in the NICU
For centuries almost every culture around the globe has used music to help soothe and teach children. From singing lullabies to helping a child get to sleep to singing the ABC song to learn the alphabet, there are countless examples of music being used to foster learning and growth in children of all ages. But, how can music be used to promote development in the smallest and most fragile of patients in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit?…
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Palliative Care Doesn’t Have to Be Something Scary: A Music Therapy Perspective
“You treat a disease, you win, you lose. You treat a person, I guarantee you, you’ll win, no matter what the outcome.” – Patch Adams
Music therapists often work in palliative care contexts. They are usually part of a team of professionals whose aim is to improve the quality of life of patients facing serious illnesses and end-of-life situations….
Music Therapy and Teens Facing a Serious Illness
In this blog post, I explore the ways in which teens use music. I also explore how music therapy is of great support for them when faced with a serious illness.
We know from sociological studies and from pure common sense and experience that music is an important part of life for most, if not all,…
Sound Health – Say It With Rhythm!
The second concert of the conference Sound Health featured Dr. Nina Kraus, Mickey Heart (drummer of the Grateful Dead), Zakir Hussain, and Adam Gazzaley. The focus of this day of performances and talks was rhythm.
Mickey Hart
Mickey Hart is a great drummer who plays with The Grateful Dead. For his part of the talk he focused on the personal importance of rhythm in life….
Cleveland Clinic Children’s Partnership
Sam’s Fans started a new partnership with Cleveland Clinic Children’s this year. In this blog post, we explain to you how the partnership started and what you help us fund with your donations. We also tell you how CCC will further the mission of using music and art therapy to serve seriously ill children and their families….
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Conference Explores Music and the Mind
Last year, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts put together an event with the National Endowment for the Arts called: Music and the Mind, Changing Our Children’s Lives Through Music Engagement. This event brought together musicians, neuroscientists, music therapists, and other professionals to explore links between music, rhythm,…
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Let’s Say YES to Music Therapy!
Yes Man
I recently watched Yes Man, a movie starring Jim Carrey. It is a fun movie with a valuable message. Its message is that we should take advantage of the opportunities that present to us. As I was watching, there was one scene that caught my attention as a music therapy student. About halfway through the movie,…
Life is Better When You Improvise
“The thing about improvisation is that it’s not about what you say. It’s listening to what other people say. It’s about what you hear.”
-Paul Merton
Music therapists employ all kinds of methods in their work. Whether their method is to play a song or to let the patient/client play an instrument, music therapists know how to use music to achieve a goal….
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