Therapy by Alice 
Today We Talk About Stress
Posted on March 20, 2020 Leave a Comment
Today I have made a few word art pictures (I didn’t make the first one, I found it which gave me the idea) I plugged in all the words that came to mind and then played with the shapes etc. It was a fun exercise and made some pretty artwork and made me feel better.
Below is my playlist for today. I started with different songs, but as I went through the music of my favorite band, I realized that most of the music I listen to that’s fun and not Christian these were the songs I really like. They are in no special order. These are just songs that have words I like and a couple that are fun and make you dance and tap your toes. How do you deal with stress? What are ways you are keeping yourself calm in these stressful times? What are your favorite songs for destressing? Please drop these in the comment section below.
Today with all the stress and now with California basically shutting down we have to keep our spirits up. For me music does a lot of that. If I listen to music then I limit my time listening to news and depressing virus news. If I listen to music I won’t be worrying about how I’m going to make money for the next two months or if my NATRC ride will even happen. My anxiety does tend to get the better of me, especially at night when I should be asleep. I find that my heart is beating almost 100 per minute and this is not a great feeling.
Friends tell me to trust in God. It’s not that I am not trusting in God. I completely trust God and I know where I am going when it’s time to leave this earth. I have asthma, and whenever I get any kind of upper respiratory bug I am sick for a long time. I am one of the high risk people…So I’m not real enthused about the possibility of getting it.
On to the songs…Carbon Leaf is a band more people should know about. The usually come to Texas in September and Maggie and I try to listen to them every year we can. The first year we were supposed to see them is Ironic though b/c we should have seen them in person in the fall of 2009. We were heading to a NATRC ride the next day and Peter had had the Swine flu…we were tired and trying to stay away from him so we wouldn’t get sick. So, we didn’t go…Ironically I got sick with the flu two days later so I guess it’s good I didn’t expose all those people.
Let your troubles roll by…it’s an easy going song that just goes well with the troubles we are having now. It basically says let it roll by and it’s the best way to live. What about Everything? is one of my favorites. Again it talks about all the big problems in the world and how we should let it affect us…the last chorus says “what about when buildings fall, what about that midnight phone call” which are the two things no one wants to think about. I’m pretty sure the line about the buildings must have been 9-11. comfort has a line in it that Maggie and I both love…It says “the more you live the less you will die” which is a good reminder in today’s times. Who brings you comfort? The Donnybrook affair and gone are just fun fun songs. Life Less Ordinary…it’s the first song they were known for and sometimes you will hear it playing at the super market.
As always remember that Adagio Massage and Music Therapy is here to support you with services in the times of no contact. I have a doxy.me room and can meet you there to work on music goals or music therapy goals. I do basic instruction in flute piano or even the banjo (though admittedly I will do well to get you through your first basic chords) I also am available for birth music consultation and for bereavement work.
In this time of no contact I’m doing everything I can to keep the doors open and my business going.
Unraveling-Songs for Memory Loss
Posted on March 19, 2020 Leave a Comment
This playlist is a work in progress but these are two songs that are incredibly powerful in speaking of love and loss of memory and the grief this causes in our lives.
The first song, Unraveling, is about a woman dealing with her Grandmother’s loss of memory as her memory slowly leaves her due to the ravages of Alzheimer. The second song is about a husband and wife who were never apart separated by medical conditions and loss of memory. Get a hanky when you hear them. They are sad songs.
Songs for Fresh Sadness
Posted on March 18, 2020 Leave a Comment
My father passed away on December 23, 2019, 31 years to the day that we lost his mother, my grandmother. Because I am a music therapist through the loss of my dad I began to think about all the music that either reminded me of him, or came to mind in my grief while I was mourning him. I sent several of these to my step mother, but I’m not sure if she’s really a music person, so I have no idea if these songs comforted her.
The first song, When I’m gone, was especially powerful to me when I thought of her and how sad she would be without my dad. They had been married for almost 23 years and they were best friends. The traveled a lot and enjoyed each other’s company. When I first heard this song I cried like a baby. I still cry every time I listen to it.
Part of the reason it hits me so hard is Joey + Rory themselves. They had a beautiful love story and then she was struck down by cancer and died. When I first discovered them as a singing duo she was already gone, but I had no idea. So I was driving in the rain, listening to their music on You tube when I story popped up about her fight with cancer and her death. I had spent the day working with hospice patients and I was overwhelmed with sadness so profound I couldn’t even talk. I still think about their incredible love for each other and it makes me happy and sad at the same time.
The next song, by JJ Heller Your Hands is a song I come back to in times of trouble. It always reminds me that no matter what trouble is in the world the Lord shelters us in his hands and take care of us. More important to know now more than ever.
The third song is just a great song. It is the song I sang to my dad before I left on the 22nd of December. It was one of the last communications i Had with him. As I sang it I swear he was singing along from somewhere inside himself. His eyebrows kept moving expressively and it made me smile. I did not know it was the last time I would see him or sing for him, but I’m glad that was the last song I sang. I imagine my dad running down the streets of Gold in Heaven (Gold for Mizzou of course) and praising Jesus with the singing voice he never had. I imagine he’s in a choir with Gene Wilder and they are holding a hymnal.
Below are these things on what I hope to be a growing spotify list.
Boosting the Immune System
Posted on March 17, 2020 Leave a Comment
https://www.healthline.com/health/food-nutrition/foods-that-boost-the-immune-system
Here is a great article about how we can boost our immune system in this time of fear and concern.
New Office Coming
Posted on March 10, 2020 Leave a Comment
AdagioMassage and Music Therapy will get a new office in Gatesville, TX Beginning April 1, 2020. I will be sharing office space with Butterfly Effekt massage on Bus 36. I will be offering traditional massage as well as specializing in stretching and I hope to be able to offer yoga classes as well. I will also have space to conduct private music therapy sessions and work with people in grief music and birth music sessions. Stay tuned for more details.
I can’t make this stuff up
Posted on February 19, 2020 Leave a Comment
So this am when I was making my breakfast. I reached in to take my Bacon out of the oven at the same exact time the bag of English Muffins decided to fall from above the microwave. My unsuspecting hand let go of the bacon and the whole thing came crashing to the floor. I barely managed to save the bacon, but the bag of muffins was toast b/c the plastic melted due to the heat of the grease. Also, the cats were very excited to find that they could lick up all that yummy bacon grease. It was such a mess!
Grief Work
Posted on January 9, 2020 Leave a Comment
I suddenly lost my father in December, two days before Christmas. On December 8 he was fine (or so I thought–he was quite the faker apparently) and by December 23 he had left this world for his final destination. He lived his life well, loved intensely and traveled the world with his second wife, Shirley. He had a great love for all things related to the Missouri Tigers.
I really can’t begin to wrap up 85 years of my father’s life in a short blog post, but he did inspire me to move forward with an idea I have had in the back of my mind but wasn’t sure could be ‘real’.
In the aftermath of his death, I turned to music, as I have so often in my life. Of course, this makes sense because I am a music therapist and I have spent a lot of my career (my favorite part) working with hospice patients and their families with music and massage therapy. I found so many songs that made me think of him. Some made me laugh and some made me cry, but I did find that I focused on songs that allowed me to grieve as well as rejoice in his deep faith in God.
In the days that followed his death I shared many of these songs with my step mother, my husband and my Facebook friends. I began to realize that not everyone has access to and knowledge of many of these songs. My unique training as a music therapist allows me to offer a perspective that others might not have.
So…I have a new venture I am launching. I want to work with people to help them with their grief with music therapy as the basis. I feel like I have a lot to offer in compassion and musical knowledge. This work can be done over Skype, zoom, hangouts or in person. As far as rates go, I will be offering an introductory package to be discussed with each client, by private treaty. I want everyone who needs this help to be able to receive it.
Exciting news for 2020
Posted on January 7, 2020 Leave a Comment
I’m so excited you guys! As you know, we have been wanting to finish paying off our truck for the last year, but just don’t quite have enough to get it done. Guess what?! I found a way to make our dream of paying off my truck happen and I can’t wait to share it with all of you! This is such an awesome day!!! Stay tuned, friends and I’ll tell you all about it!
Music Therapy Assisted Childbirth
Posted on January 30, 2014 Leave a Comment
After months of wanting to attend a workshop and not being to go first to Chicago and then to Nebraska, I was finally able to go to a workshop in Houston this past weekend. It was put on by Sound Birthing, LLC of California and our instructor was the Amazing Lillieth Grand.
I have been thinking about what I would write her since Sunday and I just can’t begin to right down what I learned, or the path this amazing workshop has set me on. I learned how to help a woman through the stages of childbirth. I learned how to help a couple set up a birth plan and practice progressive relaxation and other methods to help a couple practice before a birth to have the best outcome at and after a birth. I learned that there is not near enough research in this area at this current time. And I learned that there is a group of amazing music therapists who share the same passion to connect with other, empathetic women. It was like getting an education and having a woman’s retreat all at once.
I have been sitting here this evening listening to music and saving playlists. I have a cat in my lap and my crochet. It has been a very peaceful evening. I will publish some items related to the Sound Birthing Company and information about Music Therapy Assisted Childbirth in general since I am eager to get started and still a little tongue tied about my new found passion.
At the risk of too much information at once, here is the first of several things I will be posting over the next few days.
What is Music Therapy Assisted Childbirth?
Although there have been advancements in anesthesia for labor and delivery in recent years, many couples today choose to have a natural childbirth experience. It has been substantiated by research that birth outcomes for mother and baby can be greatly enhanced through the natural childbirth process. Many free-standing and hospital-based family birthing centers are popping up around the country to meet this growing need. Several nonpharmacological interventions are available to laboring mothers including: hypnosis, biofeedback, touch and massage, hydrotherapy, acupuncture, and transcutaneous electric nerve stimulation. Another successful discomfort management technique being explored is the application of prepared music programs during Music Therapy Assisted Childbirth.
In the early 1980s, Music Therapists began to explore the use of “audioanalgesia” (sound for discomfort relief) in the music therapy process in working with labor and delivery patients. Music therapists assist patients in the clinical application of music in suppressing the discomfort response, but can also work with patients in deeper psychological and emotional ways. The process of “music therapy” differs from “music medicine” based on the establishment of a relationship between therapist and patient. Music therapists specifically design and develop unique treatments for each patient based on the patient’s need and condition.
A Music Therapy Assisted Childbirth program is conducted by a board-certified music therapist, and consists of a series of sessions usually offered in the last trimester of pregnancy. Some music therapists also provide labor and delivery support for the couple during the birth and post-natal visits. Couples are taught how to use music to support their physical and emotional needs throughout the stages of labor and delivery. The music therapist assists the couple in selecting and applying a specially chosen music program to calm, comfort, block discomfort, and focus breathing for each mother. The music therapist may also provide instruction in imagery and relaxation techniques, movement training, singing of lullabies and womb songs, and other creative arts experiences. (A womb song is a special song that is written for the baby while in utero.) Familiar music can help comfort the mother during the birth experience and practice with the music before the birth is essential. This therapy has been found to significantly decrease the mother’s anxiety and discomfort responses, decrease the need for analgesic medications during birth, and has contributed to overall positive feelings about the birth process.
In a study of 14 couples who participated in a Music Therapy Assisted Childbirth program it was found that music therapy was very beneficial during the labor and delivery process (DiCamillo, 1999). The use of music during labor and delivery was most effective in supporting (rhythmic) breathing (86%), remaining calm (86%), focus (71%), and in discomfort management (64%). Women who practiced the techniques at home and who were familiar with their music felt in control and had more positive birth experiences. Many of the women (64%), felt in control most of the time during labor and delivery. Imagery techniques were effective when paired with the music, and (71%) stated that these techniques were the most beneficial. All of the women (100%) felt well supported during labor and delivery. All participants (100%) stated that the music therapy program enhanced family bonding with the baby during the immediate post-partum period.
In another case study by DiCamillo (2000), Music Therapy Assisted Childbirth was found to greatly enhance the birth outcome of an emergency pre-term delivery of an infant (33 weeks gestation) due to the mother’s condition of severe pregnancy induced hypertension (high blood pressure). Due to the mother’s precarious medical condition while in labor, the physician recommended against epidural anesthesia. The mother was able to have an unmedicated, vaginal birth which is what she desired using only music for discomfort relief. The baby was breathing on its own at birth and did not require ventilation. Both mother and baby are doing fine today.
*DiCamillo, M. (1999). A bio-psycho-social model of music therapy assisted childbirth: an integrative approach to working with families. Doctoral Dissertation, Pepperdine University
*DiCamillo, M. (2000). Music therapy assisted childbirth: a case study of an emergency high-risk pre-term delivery due to pregnancy-induced-hypertension. International Music Society for Prenatal Development Review, 12, 2, 8-13.
Therapy by Alice 