This week I had a very positive session with a fairly young woman living with metastatic cancer. In her mid 50’s, “Ms. M” was very capable of operating her very smart phone (although the ultra sensitive touch pad was become a challenge with her increasingly unsteady hand). As the session progressed, Ms. M asked me to record a few of her favorite songs as audio files on her cellphone so that she could later make them her ring tones. As I began to set up the voice recorder app I heard her say “Oh, ‘Besame Mucho’, that’s the one song that can always calm me down.” After recording that song I suggested to Ms. M, “I’m sure you will be getting a lot of stressful phone calls in the months ahead, maybe you should set your primary ring tone as “Besame Mucho” to remind you to stay calm and grounded.” Ms. M appeared to be receptive to that idea, although possibly in denial that things may get more hectic in the coming months.
As music therapists we are always thinking of ways to make the positive effects of the therapy last long after we are out of the room. If songs can produce certain emotions and feelings (as we know they do) maybe they can also influence how we perceive and respond to stressful situations, even if it is recorded music? Unfortunately, I will not have an opportunity to follow up with Ms. M as she is leaving the hospital today to go home, but this is an “experiment” I would be interested in following-up on in the future. Have you ever had experience with this or other ideas for leaving “lasting music therapy impressions”? Please leave your comments below!