A Music Practitioner
creates a nurturing and supportive environment
that is therapeutically beneficial to the
individual on a one-on-one basis.
For music to
be healing, the most important thing is
that you like and “resonate”
with it. The Music Practitioner will consult
with you regarding the style of music and
specific program that will best serve your
individual needs.
Music Therapy
Internship
Carole is in the process of obtaining
a certificate as a Practitioner by the International
Harp Therapy Program with practical experience
at the Children’s Hospital San Diego
and Hospice work through local churches
in San Diego.
Areas of Study
• Fundamentals
of Resonant Kinesiology •
Inclusive attention to enhance our awareness
of ourselves and others around us
• Understanding the process of death
and dying, what to expect so that we may
be a support during patients transition
• Hospital etiquette including familiarization
with hospital procedures and common reactions
to medicines
• Music development including repertoire,
improvisation, ways to encourage participation
when appropriate
• Psychology course on understanding
the client in the helping process in order
to support change
Music
is being used successfully with many kinds
of patients including those who are temporarily
ill and injured, chronically ill, critically
ill, Alzheimer’s patients, premature
babies, birthing mothers, the comatose and
the dying. Music is also being used as an
aid in preparation for and after surgery.
Live music, in particular, has been shown
to relax the mind and body, allowing more
effective responses to medical treatment
and enhancing the self-healing work of the
immune system. Unlike recordings, the Music
Practitioner is able to detect the patient’s
changing needs and adapt the music at a
moment’s notice.The harp, perhaps
more than any other instrument, lends itself
to producing musical tones that touch us
and have the capacity to enhance our own
innate healing responses.
What are the benefits of harp therapy?
Sounds of the harp can promote
comfort and relaxation and can help increase
the coordination and concentration of the
recipient.The music of the harp has been
used for centuries to produce soothing music
which brings peace, rest, healing to the
mind, body and spirit and eases pain. Harp
therapy is the use of the harp by a skilled
harpist to produce music which brings, among
other things, relaxation, peace of mind
and spirit, harmony of body and spirit,
emotional release, and spiritual uplifting.
Harp is the only instrument hat provides
this vast range of pure, broad-spectrum
sound, vibration and frequencies. MRI’s
show that listening to music, involves the
whole brain. If a person plays an instrument
then they use sight/memory, touch, fine
motor skills (hands and involves the idea
of chaining skills), skilled motor behavior,
the hierarchy of movement in the right timing
and spatial sequencing. So if a person plays
an instrument they are using more brain
function than someone just listening. Our
brains are a muscle, if we use our brains
more, then we exercise our brains and develop
a better muscle.The harp is the only instrument
that provides a vast range of pure, broad-spectrum
sound, vibration and frequencies that produces
the musical tones that touch us and have
the capacity to enhance our own innate healing
responses. These vibrations from the harp
enter the body and promote physical and
psychological health which has been documented
in various studies.The main technique I
was taught is to find the “resonant
point”. Then guide them to a better
place if possible. When the resonant point
is found then to play in that mode. In harp
therapy we use visual cues if a person can’t
communicate to let us know if we are playing
in the right mode. We look for eye movement,
breathing and body. Harp therapy has no
bad side effects which drugs can have. It
is non-intrusive.
Research studies indicate that live harp music
can change...
1-
Respiration rate or breathing
2- Decreases ones pulse
3- Decreases ones blood pressure
4- Decreases fatigue or stress
5- Increases oxygen in the blood stream
6- Can change the body’s metabolism
Sound has the ability to...
1-
Can change one’s physiological well-being
2- Affects all the cells in the human body
by the vibrating sound that hits/contacts
with the body
3- Can change one’s thinking
4- My be effective in easing many physical
and mental problems
The following statistics were taken from research
conducted at the San Diego Hospice which concluded
that Harp Therapy has numerous benefits...
84% of patients
/ family experienced ease of anxiety
70% of patients
/ family experienced decrease of fear
71% of patients
/ family experienced easier breathing
63% of patients
felt relief of pain
77% of patients
/ family responded that harp therapy was
of great benefit
22% of patients
/ family responded that harp therapy was
of some benefit
0% of patients
/ family responded that harp therapy was
of no benefit
Providing harp music
as a means to create an atmosphere of healing,
comfort and peacefulness is my life’s
desire.
What is expected of the Patient?
It is not necessary for the patient
to interact physically or even verbally
with the Music practitioner, especially
since a patient may be under medication
or anesthesia. Music Practitioners can even
play during surgery. Whether or not the
patient is awake and aware is simply a factor
in the style of music played. Research has
shown that even comatose patients can benefit
from live music.
In short, nothing
is expected of patients except their physical
presence.
Studies
Slowly physicians are beginning to recognize
the great value and benefits of live harp
music. A recent four part study with college
students was performed in which, a group
of students were exposed to four different
types of sound and blood samples taken after
each. The first was an hour of regular loud
rock music on the radio with noisy with
commercials. Blood tests revealed a substantial
drop in their immune systems. The second
was an hour of easy listening type of music
again with commercials. The drop in the
blood test was less than the first test.
The third test was an hour of silence, the
test showed no increase or decrease of the
immune levels. Lastly they listened to an
hour of harp music no commercials. The result
was dramatic, all the students tested for
a substantial rise in their immune cells.
Other tests show students who routinely
listen to gentle classical music as the
study do better in examinations.
For Consultations,
bookings and information, please contact:
Harp is the only instrument hat provides
this vast range of pure, broad-spectrum
sound, vibration and frequencies. MRI’s
show that listening to music, involves the
whole brain. If a person plays an instrument
then they use sight/memory, touch, fine
motor skills (hands and involves the idea
of chaining skills), skilled motor behavior,
the hierarchy of movement in the right timing
and spatial sequencing. So if a person plays
an instrument they are using more brain
function than someone just listening. Our
brains are a muscle, if we use our brains
more, then we exercise our brains and develop
a better muscle.The harp is the only instrument
that provides a vast range of pure, broad-spectrum
sound, vibration and frequencies that produces
the musical tones that touch us and have
the capacity to enhance our own innate healing
responses. These vibrations from the harp
enter the body and promote physical and
psychological health which has been documented
in various studies.The main technique I
was taught is to find the “resonant
point”. Then guide them to a better
place if possible. When the resonant point
is found then to play in that mode. In harp
therapy we use visual cues if a person can’t
communicate to let us know if we are playing
in the right mode. We look for eye movement,
breathing and body. Harp therapy has no
bad side effects which drugs can have. It
is non-intrusive. 