Be in the Moment. Leave Your Expectations at the Door

Before therapeutic music can work its wonders on patients, the music has to engage the patient. To present the right music, the musician must enter the room with no expectations, no agendas and an open mind to all possibilities that await. Focus on the moment. Focus on the patient. Nothing else really matters – it’s all about the patient.

One method to center on the patient is to breathe with him for a moment. Then evaluate the patient. Is he curled up in a fetal position, is he alert or disoriented or non-verbal? Is he writhing in pain, or is he anxious, perhaps struggling to get out of bed. If a patient is in a tented bed, that is a huge clue that he is anxious. Nurses have confined him to prevent him from getting out of bed and hurting himself. If a patient is on monitors, what do they tell you about heart rate, pulse, blood pressure and oxygen levels?

Watching for Patient Response Allows Musician to Play the Right Music

Only after evaluating the patient can a musician select the proper type of music to play. The music has to have the proper tempo and rhythm to resonate with the patient. Properly selected, the music will activate the brain to “listen” to the music and synchronize to it. As soon as that happens, the musician is in charge. At that point the musician can slow the music down to dampen the anxiety, or maintain a steady rhythm to stabilize the heart beats, or create whatever healing environment the patient needs.

Adjust the Style of Music as Needed

And don’t expect to always get it right the first time. As a therapeutic musician plays, he will watch the patient closely, and if the music is not having the desired effect, or no effect at all, the music should be adjusted. At the outset, the musician must meet the patient wherever he is mentally and physiologically.

Sometimes, it’s hard to tell what the most critical issue is. Once, I thought a non-verbal lady was just cognitively impaired. Playing the prescribed music for that condition elicited no positive response. I then realized she was not only cognitively impaired, but confused, which usually leads to anxiety. Playing music designed to relieve anxiety did the trick. She relaxed, and soon she was contentedly asleep.

If you live in Citrus County, Florida and are a musician interested in providing this therapeutic music, call us. We have funding available to put qualified musicians through training. Please Contact Us.