Group Music Therapy in a Clinical Setting

I offer group music therapy in a number of healthcare facilities, including memory care centers and neuro-rehabilitation day programs.

Alzheimer’s disease and dementia

I engage this group of people in songs from their youth and favorite spiritual tunes and invite them to sing along and/or form the percussion section of our band. I see miracles happen, as someone who appears to be quite lost and absent comes to life, singing the lyrics in full voice and moving his/her body in rhythm. Music prompts memories and can lead to verbal sharing.

“People with dementia do not lose their memory, they lose access to their memory.”

~Oliver Sacks
Neuropsychologist/Author

Neuro-Rehabilitation

Neurologic Music Therapy offers a number of very specific, evidenced-based techniques and interventions designed to engage the minds and bodies of clients suffering from traumatic brain injury, stroke and Parkinson’s disease.  

Therapeutic goals for group music therapy participants are to:

  • Provide an opportunity to engage in reality through focus on task, sensory stimulation, and social interaction
  • Provide a vehicle for appropriate expression of thoughts and feelings in a non-threatening verbal or non-verbal manner
  • Provide an experience of success and enjoyment, build confidence and develop life skills in:
    • Leading/Following
    • Learning from Supporting Others
    • Sustaining Attention
    • Creative Expression
    • Impulse Control
    • Perceptual Stability
    • Recovery from Mistakes

Hospice

For me, this is a very spiritual practice, as I provide a bridge between this world and the next with music – for the patient and the family.  Creating a ‘Life Review in Music” is a wonderful way to embrace this journey.  I have had many profound moments as I witness families connecting to one another in a deeply heartfelt way – a way that transcends what words can offer as a loved one is in the process of dying.  This is very intimate work and can be continued as part of the grief process for family members after the passing of their loved one.

Group music therapy in the clinical setting occurs in healthcare facilities with 4 – 12 people, larger on some occasions. Each session begins with a musical centering activity, followed by interventions using songs, rhythm and improvisations drawing on client-generated material – all in service of addressing cognitive, physical and psycho-social functioning. Each session concludes with a closing song to help clients in transitioning to their next activity. Sessions generally run 50 minutes to one hour.

Group music therapy in the wellness setting is built around vocal and physical activity and is largely improvisational. I offer workshops at yoga studios, local art centers and other community venues as well as in my studio.

Patricia Mulholland, MA, MT-BC, NMT
 

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7 Evergreen Dr.
Arundel, ME 04046

Monday – Friday,  9:00 – 5:00