Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago

14 Jul 2016

Kids are inherently musical — it’s visible in the way they talk, move and process information. Our board-certified music therapists design highly individualized interventions using patient and family-preferred music to promote comfort and work on developmental, physical and expressive goals.

Music therapists are uniquely trained to harness the therapeutic qualities of music to use with even the most fragile children, including surgical patients and babies in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). Music therapy involves accessible and adapted experiences to engage patients and make them feel successful, regardless of musical background. In the hospital setting, music therapy can offer an outlet for feelings about illness and hospitalization and reduce a child’s perception of pain and anxiety. Guiding children through the creative process can give them a voice or container for emotions, as well as positively impact their mood and well-being.

Our music therapists use techniques like song writing, composition, improvisation, music-based play and listening to music. Though at times a finished song or music project is generated, the focus of music therapy is on the therapeutic process of making and listening to sounds that echo a child’s feelings. Children shouldn’t be defined by their illness; music therapy helps to normalize illness and injury, allowing patients and families to process the effects of hospitalization in a non-threatening environment.

 

 

Near North Side
225 E. Chicago Ave.
Chicago, IL 60611
(312) 227-4000
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