Music is what’s going to get us through this; to recover from this and to build anew. And why not? Music is a staple in cultures around the world and impacts how we live in the world perhaps more than any other art form today.

 

“Singing helps me forget the difficulties of life.”

 

For Nvunanwa Zirimwaga, 50, along with the countless other victims of sexual violence in eastern Congo, music serves as a momentary source of comfort from the everyday dangers that have persisted in the country since the mid-1990s. This story was brought to life by world-renowned portrait photographer, Platon, who traveled to the Democratic Republic of the Congo in 2016 to capture the stories of this resilient community. One of its leaders, Dr. Denis Mukwege grew up in the country surrounded by this crisis. He understood the core issues plaguing this home and felt strongly compelled to resolve them. Something had to be done to support these women, both from a physiological perspective in the form of creating a place of refuge for safe childbirths, as well as psychologically to help women cope with their traumatic experiences. In 1999, he founded the Panzi Hospital to both safeguard women’s lives and ensure that their children have the chance to thrive. Mukwege and his staff enbolden women to overcome their PTSD through an after-care program called Maison Dorcas, designed to foster community and help integrate women back into society. One of the ways this is done is through an innovative music therapy program developed by Make Music Matter, a Canadian-based nonprofit organization offering alternative forms of therapy, in this case, music therapy, to communities impeded by conflict and trauma.

 

At a broad level, music therapy itself, refers to a practice reliant on two processes using song to address the physical, emotional, cognitive, and social needs of a group or individual.

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1. First, as a creative process, music is the vehicle for expression, ultimately resulting in a set of conceived, yet somewhat measured, sound patterns. More simply, this process orients patients as an active participant in the creative process, from writing lyrics to producing sounds and melodies.

2. As a receptive process, music is a listening experience for patients, enabling us to feel and to explore. The music is presented in an inviting environment for discussion among peers, for freedom of thought, and for ideas perhaps never considered.

 

For those previously unfamiliar with formal music therapy, the receptive process described may resonate as something we already do without knowing what it is or what to call it. Some music helps us relax, producing sounds and rhythms inherent to being human. From feeling a heartbeat, to the rising and falling as we breathe, music is ingrained in human life. Music guides us through our days in ways otherwise unimaginable. It’s almost difficult to consider life without music in our lives, regardless of how many hours we each listen to in a year. Yet, it’s still hard to believe the effects music has shown in these weakened communities.

 

How music therapy works in a clinical setting has also proven valuable, activating both mind and body in a way that’s tailored to the patient’s physical health, mental health, cognition, communication skills, and of course, preference. “Music produces beneficial effects on anxiety, pain, fatigue, and quality of life, with small effects on heart rate, respiratory rate, and blood pressure” (Gubili). And these pain points don’t discriminate. Humans crave relief for relaxing the various tension in our lives.

 

Building a program derived from principles of music therapy, Making Music Matter works with patients across the world, including this program at the Panzi hospital, to record a music album from start to finish. From encouraging patients to write songs about their experience, to sharing the final works within their communities, Making Music Matters empowers traumatized populations to safely and openly express themselves and their experiences. Music offers more than entertainment value in this context; it becomes a platform for patients to reconcile their painful experiences and to perhaps turn them into something positive.

 

One patient, Ali Bavura, 21, also known as Sandra, has grown into a leader among her peers in recovery. Like Nvunanwa, Sandra’s life has not been without tragedy. Despite having been orphaned at the age of 7 and raped at 16, one of her songs was tapped as the title track on the first album produced by the Panzi music program. It was also at this time Sandra was introduced to the world by way of Platon, which offered a new platform for her to speak on the value of community in recovery from her PTSD. “When I came to Panzi I found out that I was not alone. This helped me – when I heard stories of other women my hope came back. Sometimes these negative thoughts are about to come – when I sing, the bad memories disappear. But also singing helps me transmit my message to a large audience. I strongly hope my story can help other people.” This is the same woman also subjected to unwanted sexual abuse just five years prior; an incredible case study in the power of music to accelerate the healing process.

 

Music has proven effective not only in helping our minds persist through tough times, but also our bodies as we fight perhaps our biggest physical battles, particularly among cancer patients. It reduces mood disturbance and improves social integration among those facing stem cell treatment. It lowers patients’ anxiety levels among those newly diagnosed with cancer. It lessens the pain and instead actually made for a calmer and more relaxed experience, among children receiving a spinal tap.  And it’s positively associated with reducing breathing problems among hospice care patients. A systemic review of 50+ trials and more than 3.5K cancer patients found music to be an effective source of medicine for anxiety, pain, fatigue, and quality of life, with smaller, but still beneficial effects on heart rate, respiratory rate, and blood pressure. A case study from the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in NYC explored the case of a 72-year-old patient suffering from a recurrent lymphoma. Under treatment of music therapy, along with physical and occupational therapy, the picture becomes a little less bleak. Her therapists report increased attentiveness. Much like our own experiences with music, there’s no one-size-fits-all approach in a formal music therapy session. It’s what our intuition, as well as many artists themselves, always tell us: that music is for everyone, transcending location, socioeconomics, race, relation, etc. The patient moves her body along with the rhythms of a samba beat, remarking, “Oh this feels good!” and singing along to the music.

 

Who hasn’t felt this way because of listening to music, whether live or recorded? Music guides us through our days in ways otherwise unimaginable. It’s almost difficult to consider life without music in our lives, regardless of preference or how many hours we each listen to in a year. Taken all together, it makes sense that music is often presented as a source of medicine, seemingly applicable to all forms of healing. It is perhaps only truly understood when seen firsthand. It’s in this way that, what makes music therapy special may be more art than science.

 

In late 2020, a video of a woman performing a ballet routine went viral. What’s truly remarkable about the video is that the woman, Marta C. Gonzalez, at the time (she has since passed), was an Alzheimer’s patient recalling a routine she performed several decades go. It’s incredible moments like these that are seemingly impossible to describe as a music begins to fill an otherwise broken room. I first witnessed the potency of music as therapy through my involvement with Musicians on Call, a non-profit organization that brings live music to the bedsides of hospitals and healthcare facilities across the country, both in-person and virtually. Before the pandemic, I volunteered at New York’s Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, working with their music therapy staff. My job was to guide a musician through 1-2 floors of the hospital, stopping at each room and asking the patient if he or she would like to hear a song. If “yes,” I’ll bring the musician into the room to perform a live song for the patient and / or their families. What happens next is nothing short of extraordinary. To visually see the weight of the room being lifted from a song is like seeing magic for the first time. Sometimes the patients join in, whether humming or reciting lyrics. Sometimes the patients move along to the melody of the song, the soft touch of their fingertips rising and falling from their bed. Sometimes the patients’ eyes perk up, maybe even drawing tears.

 

And all it took was music.

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Source List

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Baker, A. (2017, February). Platon: Portraits of Sexual Assault Survivors in Congo. TIME.Com. https://time.com/platon-congo-denis-mukwege/

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Gubili, J. G., Kramer, D. K., & Popkin, K. P. (2018, January 12). Evidence Shows How Music Therapy Can Affect Patients With Cancer. ONS Voice. https://voice.ons.org/news-and-views/evidence-shows-how-music-therapy-can-affect-patients-with-cancer

 

Heidersheit, A. (2016). What is music therapy? Taking Charge of Your Health & Wellbeing. https://www.takingcharge.csh.umn.edu/common-questions/what-music-therapy

 

Make Music Matter. (2021, September 16). About. https://makemusicmatter.org/about/#mission

 

Musicians On Call. (2020, August 24). About Us. https://www.musiciansoncall.org/about-us/

 

Panzi Foundation. (2021, April 26). The Hospital. https://panzifoundation.org/the-hospital/

 

The People’s Portfolio. (2017, February). Portfolios. https://www.thepeoplesportfolio.org/index#/sexual-violence-in-the-congo

 

Popkin, K., & Gubili, J. (2017, July 25). Music Therapy: Relevance in Oncology - The ASCO Post. The ASCO Post. https://ascopost.com/issues/july-25-2017/music-therapy-relevance-in-oncology/

 

TSIOULCAS, A. (2020, November 10). Struck With Memory Loss, A Dancer Remembers “Swan Lake.” But Who Is She? NPR. https://www.npr.org/2020/11/10/933387878/struck-with-memory-loss-a-dancer-remembers-swan-lake-but-who-is-she