Notice how Naomi Feil used touch and music to connect with Gladys Wilson. It really seemed that through the two aspects, she was able to put herself in very deep relationship with Gladys. Although not music therapy, this was definitely therapeutic. The changing of tempo with Gladys's is a concept very common in music therapy called the iso-principle. "Iso" means same, similar, or alike in Greek. The idea is that by matching someone else's cues, we can incorporate someone in a music therapy session who may not be able interact in other ways. It can also be used to affect and judge non-verbal signs of pain or anxiety. For example, fast shallow breathing at the beginning of a session may signify some level of anxiety, but by the end of a session using the iso-principle, the client may have slowed their breath and may be breathing comfortably.
I tried to incorporate touch and music into one of my sessions this week. A new assessment with a patient with dementia left me wondering what to do. Many times, with a hospice diagnosis, which is the diagnosis that makes them appropriate for our services, dementia, little interaction, if any, can be had with them. These are times when I generally try to just provide a compassionate presence, which I wrote about last week. This time, I sang unaccompanied and held the client's hand. I did not get a huge response from the client, but I did feel much more connected to the client. I used the client's breath rate to direct the tempo of my music. As I stated, there were no huge breakthroughs, but I can say that I felt very close to the client at that time. I think this is something I'll be doing more often.
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This week, I've enjoyed the posts of the Music Therapy Tween. She's a fantastic music therapist who also is part of a great podcast called the Music Therapy Round Table.
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