Music Is Healing

My daughter Mia was hospitalized several times at C.S. Mott Children's Hospital to treat her severe eczema in past years. She would go in for four to five days for lengthy treatments that really got her down. She would stop talking and be in tears. We felt so helpless to make things better for her. It was not like a broken arm that would be healed in a number of weeks. She was dealing with a chronic illness that seemingly had no end.

A music therapist came to her room one day and brought a guitar and keyboard and Mia got to sing along. It was like someone flipped the happy switch back on and Mia was able to forget all of her troubles and just be a kid again. The picture above is Mia performing at the hospital (to other sick kids and their families). Thankfully, Mia is better now as we later discovered that the source of her chronic eczema was mold in our basement which we had remediated.

While at the hospital, we met our hero Jennifer Canvasser who had lost her infant son Micah in 2012. He had been hospitalized for months at Mott. He was very ill and during his stay also benefited from the Music Therapy Program.

Here is an amazing article that Jennifer wrote telling her story: "Before My Son Died, Music Mattered More than Medicine."

After he passed away, Jennifer started an annual benefit concert at the Ark in Ann Arbor, MI, to raise funding for Mott's Music Therapy Program so that more sick kids (like Mia and many others) can benefit from the program. Meredith, the music therapist that helped Mia, was the first music therapist fellow hired by the hospital thanks to Jennifer's efforts.

Every year, one Mott patient that was touched by the music therapy program, is invited to sing a song at the Benefit Concert. In 2015, when Mia was 11, she was invited to sing at the concert. I was touched by the level of support at the concert for the music therapy program.

Music is healing. There is a growing body of evidence as highlighted in this article about the healing power of music and the implications of music therapy for improved health outcomes and quality of life for hospital patients. Wouldn't it be great to see music therapy programs in every hospital?

Ways to Support Healing Through Music:

• Attend this year's Micah Smiles Music Therapy Benefit Concert on Friday, September 22 at 8:00pm at The Ark - Ann Arbor (in Southeast Michigan) featuring the amazing Acoustic Eidolon. Michigan folks, hope you can attend! Purchase tickets online here.
• For those that cannot make it to the benefit concert but want to support Mott Children's Hospital's Music Therapy Program, you can give online here.