Healing Music

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Healing Music

Alice and her lap harp used for healing music Live harp music can effect positive changes in the emotional, physical, psychological and spiritual well-being of individuals with health issues. A supplement to medical care, the music is specifically matched to a person's immediate needs. Music Practitioners provide a service, not entertainment, are trained to be responsible and unobtrusive while providing beneficial music for patients and their families.

Alice Freeman is a 2008 graduate of and is registered as a Certified Healing Musician with the International Healing Musicians Program. She may be engaged by you to play for a friend or family member, or for yourself. She will consult with you regarding the style of music to be played, for how long, and how often. The type of music depends on the condition, concerns and interests of the client. The location includes private homes, health care centers, assisted living centers and the hospital, according to your needs. Alice is also experienced in providing comfort and serenity during end-of-life transitions.

Benefits of Healing Music

Certain types of music can encourage the production of endorphins and serotonin, which can either relax or stimulate us. For example, the major keys in our musical scale are more cheerful sounding while the minor keys are more sad. In therapeutic music, patients usually respond better (as indicated by their vital signs) to music in major keys. Minor keys, being more cathartic, are found useful in promoting communication and assisting in the grief process.

Benefits of healing music can include:

Relieving anxiety of the critically ill
Reducing stress and blood pressure of the chronically ill
Augmenting pain management
Relieving body and mental tension of the pre-surgery client
Accelerating physical healing of post-surgery and injured patients
Easing the birth delivery process
Aiding mental focus in Alzheimer’s patients by lifting and clearing the consciousness
Assisting the dying by facilitating ease in the transition process

Therapeutic Musician Training Programs

There are basically three types of therapeutic musician training programs: classroom-taught, online with regular classes and self-paced independent study.

The National Standards Board for Therapeutic Musicians (NSBTM) is the official accrediting board for the healing music profession. Alice is a member of the NSBTM Representatives Council.

What is a Therapeutic Musician?

Some of the oldest hospices in Europe date back to the year 1000. These were the world’s first hospitals and health care systems, created by physician-monks and nuns, and their activities are preserved in a library of records called the ars moriendi, or the art of dying. At the end of life, the caregiver’s role was to find a unique way to relieve a particular person’s struggles and fears. The sacred art of dying traditions believe that a total environment is necessary for the dying to do their inner work. Therapeutic music is one of the most primal and powerful tools to support persons in transition.

Comfort for the Dying

The following article by Boomerang Staff Writer Karla Pomeroy appeared on the front page of the Laramie Boomerang newspaper on Saturday, May 10, 2008.

Frontpage of Laramie Boomerang newspaper showing article about Alice Freeman

A Hospice of Laramie patient in the "active" stage of dying begins to feel anxious and her heart rate becomes rapid. Healing musician Alice Freeman sits next to the bedside and begins to play her harp, matching the rhythm of the person's heart rate, then starts to slow the rhythm of the music, watching as the patient's breathing slows to match the musical rhythm.