This yr marks the 25th anniversary of Park Nicollet’s Music Therapy Internship Program. The program began three years after Dawn Miller, present Music Therapy Internship Program Manager, introduced the concept of music remedy and commenced the primary Music Therapy program at Park Nicollet in 1995. “People at Park Nicollet had not heard of music therapy, but once they saw it in action, they were on board,” Dawn stated.
First launched after World War II to assist returning troopers overcome shell shock, volunteer hospital musicians discovered they have been in a position to assist service members talk their ideas via music. Over the years, the sphere of music remedy developed scientific research which have confirmed that music remedy periods assist sufferers scale back stress and enhance temper and self-expression by listening, singing, enjoying devices or composing music.
Patients with a wide range of diseases and well being points throughout the Park Nicollet well being care system – in addition to home-care hospice sufferers – all expertise the advantages of music remedy. According to Dawn, “The philosophy of Park Nicollet’s Music Therapy program is that music taps into the healthy part of the person … and reminds them that they are a person, not just a diagnosis. Music therapy helps patients to feel supported during their hospital stay or treatment experience. It’s a wonderful example of Park Nicollet’s culture of Head+Heart together. I see it every day, music therapy allows a patient to breathe, to relax and to ease their anxiety as they go through treatments for their illness,” Dawn said.
Ingrid Miera, a previous most cancers affected person on the Frauenshuh Cancer Center, is only one instance of how music remedy can actually make a distinction in a affected person’s life. Like most individuals, Ingrid was in shock when she was identified. She was struggling emotionally and had by no means felt nervousness or worry prior to now like she had when the medical doctors found her most cancers. “I was a mess. My nurse asked if I’d heard about music therapy treatments for my anxiety. I said no, not really, but I sure was willing to try anything to help me,” stated Ingrid. “I liked my first session right away. It was a really good fit for me and helped me reduce my stress through all my treatments over a three-year period.”
Helping a affected person address stress isn’t the one good thing about music remedy. Therapy periods can have a constructive end result for rehab sufferers by bettering their motor abilities. There are not any prices to sufferers to obtain music remedy, and music remedy periods aren’t coated by third-party insurance coverage. Park Nicollet’s Music Therapy Internship Program is supported by donations and grants to the Park Nicollet Foundation, that are used to restore and substitute devices, add state-of-the-art applied sciences and fund stipends for interns.
Park Nicollet’s Music Therapy Internship Program 25 years of development
The continued development of the Music Therapy Internship Program is especially as a result of work of a passionate and devoted music remedy workers and ongoing curiosity in music remedy from sufferers and Park Nicollet staff members. This curiosity and dedication to music remedy was key in fostering an internship program in 1998 beneath the rules of the American Music Therapy Association. Since then, the Music Therapy Internship Program has hosted internships for music remedy college students, which ends up in a music remedy board certification credential. Through the six-month program, interns are in a position to present invaluable help and therapeutic to sufferers and members of the family. To date, 166 interns from faculty and college packages throughout the nation and all through the world have accomplished their internships at Park Nicollet and have gone on to profitable and rewarding careers. Park Nicollet’s internship program is acknowledged as one of many premier packages within the nation.
From the start of this system, Struthers Parkinson’s Center has been one of many core services of the intern expertise. Interns additionally acquire hands-on expertise all through different Park Nicollet services, together with in-patient hospital periods and visits with sufferers at Melrose Center in St. Louis Park.
Mary S. Adamek, PhD, Emeritus Music Therapy Professor on the University of Iowa, extremely recommends Park Nicollet’s Music Therapy Internship Program to her college students. “Park Nicollet’s internship program has a national reputation for being one of the best in the country. Any music therapy student who is chosen to intern at Park Nicollet will emerge as a highly skilled entry-level music therapist, ready to make a difference in the lives of their patients and families,” stated Dr. Adamek.
“By having a top-notch program, we’re able to attract highly qualified candidates,” said Sandi Holten, Neurologic Music Therapist and Internship Supervisor on the Struthers Parkinson’s Center. “As result, we’re able to grow and extend our program and provide more therapy sessions to more patients. Part of what I love about working with interns is that I learn as much from them as they learn from me and our staff. Interns bring new ideas from their school programs, including the latest research and the latest methods, which makes me better … it makes them better … and ultimately benefits our patients.”
“The breadth of experience I get is just outstanding,” stated intern Jennifer Diemer. “It’s one of the reasons that drew me to this internship – you just get to see different kinds of people of all ages who have different diagnoses. What I’m learning and how I’m going to be able to apply my experiences here in the real world is incredibly valuable.”
That “real world” could be as shut because the Twin Cities space. The reality is, 8 out of 12 Well beingPartners music therapists are former Park Nicollet interns, and three out of 6 Park Nicollet music therapists are former interns.
Music remedy really is a crucial and precious useful resource for sufferers and their households. The remedy periods have continued to influence so many and assist them get via the challenges they face. Dawn is aware of firsthand simply how essential music remedy could be and can proceed to be sooner or later. “I hear tales from the previous, possibly 10 or 20 years in the past, when sufferers have been within the hospital and going via chemotherapy. The one factor they keep in mind probably the most was when the music therapist got here in. Music remedy helped them to chill out, really feel supported, and introduced a private and human ingredient to their medical therapy expertise.”
Here’s to a different 25 years
To commemorate the 25-year anniversary of the Music Therapy Internship Program, a celebration might be held October 26, 2023. If you’re keen on attending, please contact the Park Nicollet Foundation; we’d like to have you ever be part of us.
