Music Therapy

A friend recently shared a video on Facebook that showed how music therapy was helping older generations recall old memories and connect with their family through music. It would take them back to a previous time and memories. Even for those who we suffering from Alzheimer’s and Dementia. The music was a way to connect to a previous time that they still had in their memory. Not to mention that it also brought smiles to their faces and got them moving even if it was something as simple as tapping a foot in a wheel chair. Check it out here

I am a firm believer in the fact that this works. I got to see it in action. Robert’s mother loved Elvis. She would always play his music and watch his movies with her kids. Robert and his sister have told me many times of memories that involved Elvis’ music in some way. Robert enjoys listening to Elvis and remembering those times growing up before Huntington’s Disease robbed him of his mother.

Even when she was at the end of her life, Cheryl still loved Elvis. She watched Elvis movies all day long. If there was not a movie playing and you asked her if she wanted to watch Elvis, her face would light up and you could tell she was trying to dance. Even when all she was constantly fighting the uncontrollable chorea and couldn’t say a word, you could tell that she remembered Elvis and his music. And when it played, she wanted to get up and dance. That never changed.

Music therapy is legit. It can help in so many ways for a person that is struggling with Huntington’s Disease. It can take a person back to a time and place when life was different. It can provide a connection to a memory and time shared with a friend or family member that you can both recall, even if she cannot communicate in words what she is thinking and feeling. You know what he is thinking about because you were there with him and can share the memory of that moment together.

I think I want to begin a "Soundtrack of our Life", full of songs that have memories attached to them so that Robert and I can listen to them and remember those times. That way, even if he can't tell me with words about a specific time, we can use a song to take us both back to that time.