Annual Newsletter 2009 - Music as Therapy

Annual Newsletter 2009
Welcome to the eleventh annual Music as Therapy Newsletter!
I find it hard to believe, but this is the final issue of the Music as Therapy Newsletter: Issue 11.
Quite a milestone.
I have been passionate about supporting, pushing, grumbling
about and funding activities that enable people in Romania to
benefit from the brilliant potential of music therapy for years
and years now. You only have to look at page 16 and read of
some moving achievements in your work over the past year to
see why.
It has been a long haul, but I remind myself that the first music
therapy organisation in the UK was founded in 1958: the
British Society for Music Therapy. It wasn’t until 1976 that
there was a need for a Professional Association to represent
music therapy as a form of intervention or treatment, and the
therapists who were practising it.
As music therapy has been developing in Romania I guess it has been
following a similar long, path. Despite all that has happened already, there is
still a way to go yet before it becomes a fully established profession. However,
there is now sufficient momentum within Romania to further develop the arts
therapies and it is time for Music as Therapy to step back a bit.
So what happens next?
Contents
Page 2 - 3
Romanian Activities 2008
Page 4 - 5
International Activities
For you, our Romanian Partners? Hopefully you will continue to show your
impressive dedication to exploring the different ways in which music can benefit
your clients. You will be able to use our Online Resources (see Page 4) to
guide you and I hope very much you will keep in touch with us. You also have
this network in Romania to draw from (see the back page for contact details)
and many of you are also involved in the IMPREUNA network (see Page 7 for
information about a forthcoming conference). And if you find there isn’t enough
support available to you… EMAIL ME!
For Music as Therapy? We will continue to be open to support any music
therapy related initiatives that we hear of in Romania. In fact we are already in
contact with our partners in Techirghiol and hope to be working together to offer
some sort of Additional Training in Constanta next year. You want more
training? Tell us. You need more instruments? Let us know. You’re
encountering difficulties with certain clients? Share them with us. I really want
you to keep in touch and to demand we support your developing music therapy
practice. We can offer supervision, resources, practical assistance, training
and (in special circumstances) funding. But we can only do this if you ask us.
We will also be using all that you have taught us to help get other music
therapy initiatives up and running in other countries around the world (see
Pages 4-5) and influencing some very exciting developments in the British
Music Therapy Profession, but my favourite place will always be Romania!
Alexia Quin, Director
Page 6 - 7
Local Partner News
Page 8 - 14
Questions and Answers
Page 15
Supervision Opportunity
Page 16
Celebrating 10 Years of
Support
Page 17
Celebrating 10 Years of
Using Music
Page 18
The Benefits of Using Music
Page 19
Local Partner Contact
Details

Additional Training
2008
The Additional Training 2008 was
delivered in Bacau on 15th and
16th of September and was kindly
hosted by the Impart Team, who
had received their original training
from Music as Therapy in 1998.
UK music therapists Abigail Gill
and Emily Cawdron generously
donated their time and
professional skills to deliver the
two day event and the course was
attended by 19 Local Partners.
The title of the training, 'The Role
of Boundaries in Therapeutic
Work with Music', was developed
by the Music as Therapy Advisory
Panel after identifying a desire
among Local Partners for further
training in working with
challenging behavior and clients
with Autistic Spectrum Disorders.
The two days were structured
quite flexibly, with an overall focus
on Boundaries on day one and on
Challenging Behaviour on day
two, with the intention to draw
links between the two areas
wherever appropriate.
Music as Therapy had asked
each participant in advance to
submit a written example of
challenging behaviour or an issue
relating to boundaries that they
had encountered in their work.
Examples of the cases included:
Working with individual clients
who were verbally or physically
aggressive towards the therapist;
integrating a new group member
into an established group where
the new member was very fearful;
working with a child who
responded well to boundaries
established at school, but whose
parents disregarded the
importance of maintaining these
at home; working with a child
living in a care home, whose
mother continually promises to
take him home, but who admits to
staff that she cannot.
The training was delivered using a
mix of theory, role play, peer
supervision, group discussion and
musical workshops. Participants
asked relevant and insightful
questions and demonstrated a
great deal of awareness and
understanding on the key issues.
In the discussion groups,
participants contributed
passionately and there was an
obvious need to share and
recount experiences of their work.
Overall, the training was a huge
success and participants
demonstrated great excitement
and enthusiasm for discussion,
exploration and learning around
the topics of boundaries and
challenging behaviour.
Abi and Emily were so impressed
by the overall standard that they
felt confident that Local Partners
should be encouraged to take the
lead and organise and deliver
future training days with the
support of Music as Therapy.
Future Additional Training Events
We are currently liaising with Local Partners to organise Additional Training in 2010
When would you like to receive the training?
What would you like more training in?
Why do you feel the training is important to you?
If you would like to deliver a training event in the future, we’d love to hear from you!
Please contact Jane Robbie: janerobbie@musicastherapy.org
2

Timisoara Support
Visit 2008
In September 2008 Music as
Therapy Advisory Panel member,
Elly Cowie and Music as
Therapy’s Administrator, Cleo
Jordan, travelled to Timisoara,
Romania, to deliver a support
project to two day centres there.
Staff at the Centru de Zi ‘Tacsi’
and Centru de Zi ‘Podul Lung’
had been awarded Discretionary
Grants by Music as Therapy
earlier on in the year. Grants are
awarded to staff who have been
previously trained by Music as
Therapy but have since moved
from their original place of work
and wish to restart their music
programmes. Staff are sent
instruments and written resources
to help them do this. However,
staff at Podul Lung and the Tacsi
Centre both felt they could benefit
from some hands-on support from
Music as Therapy to accompany
these resources and to train their
new colleagues and further
develop their music programmes.
Elly and Cleo spent two and a half
days in each centre observing
staff, assessing their needs and
offering support as needed. They
then devised a plan for some
intensive workshopping and
training and recommendations for
how staff could develop and
strengthen their music
programmes. Music as Therapy
were delighted by the staff’s
enthusiasm and felt the visit was
vital in helping them develop the
programme and benefit the
children in their care.
We’ve been delighted to hear
from both centres and have since
received reports updating us on
their work. Loredana Petermann
from Podul Lung wrote:
“By running this program, we
managed to facilitate
communication, interaction both
on individual and group level,
creativity and expression of
emotions and feelings in a relaxed
and secure environment.”
Lidia Popescu from the Tacsi
Centre said: “I had the chance to
learn from this seminar that the
most important thing is for clients
to feel good and they must be
allowed to express their feelings.
It is important to give them the
necessary time and space for
that. I believe it is recommended
that we, the teachers, should
mirror and reflect clients'
emotions. The most important
thing we learned is that we can be
together through music.”
Music as Therapy will continue to
support both centres and looks
forward to hearing how the music
programmes continue to develop.
Office Update
Alexia, Jane and Cleo continue to run the
Music as Therapy office on a part-time basis.
Alexia has recently returned from maternity
leave after having had a baby girl, Claudia, last
November - welcome back Alexia! Cleo
enjoyed visiting Local Partners in Romania last
year to help deliver training and support to staff
in three different care settings in Timisoara,
and Jane has just returned from a field trip in
Palestine and is now working towards
organising our first International Project later on this year. Ramona Blaga has been working hard to keep all
channels of communication open between the office and our Local Partners in Romania, and we have
recently been joined by Magdalena Pata who is also helping us keep on top of all the translation. Carole
Hamilton also continues to kindly work on a voluntary basis as our bookkeeper. Finally, thank you to Abigail
Gill, Guest Editor, who has dedicated her time and skills to help produce this year’s Newsletter.
3

International News
Music as Therapy International and its
Developing Role
Music as Therapy has been working together with
Local Partners in Romania to help improve the
quality of life of marginalised children and adults with
a range of disabilities and mental health problems
since 1995. Over the last 14 years, our six-week
Introductory Music Therapy Training Projects and
support activities have grown in recognition and
have gained the respect of those working in the
music therapy profession around the world.
Over the past two years, we have been approached
by a number of music therapists looking for help in
the designing, planning and implementing stages to
ensure the delivery of sustainable and effective
music therapy projects in developing countries. In
response to this demand we have decided to
develop a wider identity and launch as Music as
Therapy International (MasT). Our vision is for
MasT to become a hub of international projects
rooted in music therapy.
Our developing role is really a testament to all the
hard work of our Local Partners without whom the
work of MasT International would not be recognised.
There are now some very skilled and highly
experienced Local Partners using music
therapeutically in their work with children and adults
in their care. We will support our existing partners
so that they can continue to be the leading light in
this area of work and inspire others around the
world.
How will we continue to support our Local
Partners in Romania?
We will continue to respond to our Local Partners’
request for support. If there is demand for an
activity (e.g. Additional Training), we will look at
ways in which we can help Local Partners deliver
that activity. Please contact Jane Robbie if you have
an initiative you wish to discuss:
janerobbie@musicastherapy.org
London
Bethlehem
Uganda
Rwanda
Slovenia
Romania
Bosnia
Sudan
International Links
Music therapists working in Rwanda, Palestine, Slovenia, Bosnia i Herzegovina, Uganda, Sudan
and Belarus, India and Georgia have been in touch with us for different levels of consultancy or
information sharing. We have some exciting projects in the pipeline for 2010 so watch this space!
On-line Romanian Resource Library
An On-line Resource Library has been created on
the MasT International website
www.musicastherapy.org. It is written in Romanian
and is specifically for our Local Partners. The library
includes new musical activities, provides advice on
working with clients with specific issues, looks at
ways in which to develop musical skills and
addresses frequently asked questions. The Library
can be accessed by clicking on the Romanian Flag
on the Home Page of our website.
Romanian Training Resource Booklet
We are currently researching locally-led training
opportunities in Romania and will be producing a
‘Training Resource Booklet’. When we started
working in Romania there was very little available for
people interested to find out about music therapy or
other, new ways of working with people with
disabilities. We know times have changed a lot
since then and we are keen to support the
emergence of new training initiatives. Our findings
will be collated and the ‘Resource Booklet’ will be
available early next year. Contact Jane Robbie for
further information: janerobbie@musicastherapy.org
4

Project Bethlehem 2009
We are delighted to be getting involved with our first
skill-sharing project outside Romania, in Palestine.
It will take place in October 2009 in partnership with
music therapist Claire Tillotson, Canon Paul Miller
and the SOS Children's Village Bethlehem.
MasT International’s Projects’ Co-ordinator, Jane
Robbie, travelled to Bethlehem in May 2009 with
Claire and Paul to visit the children and staff at the
SOS Children’s Village in Bethlehem. Jane writes:
“I was very excited, if not a little apprehensive in the
lead up to my visit to Palestine. Having not been to
the Middle East before I had no idea what to expect.
Although the environment and the political situation
are very different from that of Romania, I was struck
by the many similarities whilst observing the children
and talking to the staff at the SOS Children’s Village
and School. Like the children in Romania, the
children in Palestine have a right to be heard and
need the tools to help them express how they feel.
Many of the children are traumatised and are
carrying deeply disturbing memories. They need a
safe space in which they can explore their emotions
with people they can trust. Music can help them
achieve this. Like the staff we have worked with in
Romania, the staff at the SOS Children’s Village and
School are eager to learn new ways of interacting
with the children and are committed to developing a
music programme. I felt very privileged to be part of
this Project and am confident that both the staff and
children will benefit enormously from receiving the
training.”
The MasT International ‘team’ have now been
selected and music therapist Liz Coombes and her
‘assistant’, Hannah McCabe, will travel to Bethlehem
and deliver the six-week Introductory Music Therapy
Training Project in October 2009.
And in the UK...
In 2007 we began consultation on an Interactive Music-Making Module being developed by the Music
Therapy Service of Greenwich Teaching Primary Care Trust (GTPCT) with accreditation from Greenwich
University. With our new international remit, we are now able to become full partners in this initiative.
It is our Romanian partners who have taught us what they do and don’t need in
finding ways to offer such tailored training. Working in Romania over the past 14
years has given us a wealth of experience to learn if they are going to use music
therapeutically. Applying these key principles, we are working alongside GTPCT
to create an Interactive Music-Making learning programme for anyone who would
like to use music as a resource to support child development. It is primarily aimed at those working with
infants under the age of 5 years. Like our Romanian Local Partners, they may have no musical background
or particular musical skills but have an interest in child development and can see how music can really help
address areas in which children might be having difficulties.
This practical approach to making some of the benefits of music
therapy more widely available to communities is groundbreaking and
we have been delighted by the support of the Association of
Professional Music Therapists. We hope to pilot the course in early 2010. For more information, please
contact cleojordan@musicastherapy.org.
5

Local Partner News
We have been delighted to hear about the many ways in which our Local Partners have been promoting
their work to others both on a local and international level. Their achievements are commendable and we’d
like to congratulate them all on the different ways in which they are developing and sharing their skills.
Teodora Pantazi, from Centrul Scolar pentru
Educatie Incluziva Nr.1, Oradea wrote and told us
about a music therapy paper she presented to
representatives from other European Countries as
part of a Comenius Project* entitled ‘A better life for
children with CES’.
“The aim of the project was to compare current
strategies used to recuperate pupils with CES in
partner countries: Sweden, Portugal, Turkey, Italy,
Bulgaria and Latvia. We have been using music in
our work with our children at the school since 2002
and as result of our experiences the teachers felt it
would be beneficial to present music therapy
alongside other methods we adopt.
We were pleased and surprised to discover that
music therapy was the most common and popular
method adopted. Romania, Sweden and Latvia
largely used the method and some other countries
used some elements of music therapy in their
activities. As far as the way of working is concerned,
we noticed both similarities and differences in the
schools.The most important similarity was the
musical instruments used. We found the same
instruments we use were used in other countries
and they were even called by the same name (in
English!). Differences were more in the countries
approaches. Latvia for example uses music in the
class without necessarily following clearly defined
objectives but only to entertain and to make the
pupils feel good. In Sweden, it was very interesting
to see that, besides the musical instruments specific
to music therapy, the school uses other musical
instruments as well.
At the end of this experience, I concluded that our
achievements in music therapy are equal to any
other partner school. Along the years, starting with
what we learnt from Music as Therapy, we enriched
our experience alongside them and through our own
activities so that music therapy has become an
integrated part of our professional approach. If today
we have one more approach that allows us to stand
alongside other schools in Europe, we owe you this
and we can only thank you.”
*Comenius is a cross curricular scheme funded by National Agencies to
enable staff and pupils at schools to work alongside partners in other
countries. Comenius promotes learning about different cultures through
joint projects and visits.
Monica Szabo, also from the Centrul Scolar pentru
Educatie Incluziva Nr.1, Oradea, has been
approached by colleagues within the school looking
for new ways in which to work with some of the
more challenging pupils. Monica has continuously
demonstrated over the years her commitment to
developing the music programme within the school
and has been happy to pass on her skills with others
wishing to learn more about music therapy. Monica
says:
“I have sometimes been approached by colleagues
who have a child they can't work with because they
do not manage to establish a contact. They heard
about working with music and maybe even started
using it but did not know exactly how to implement it
with a particular child. I presented some general
principles and then we worked together for a few
6
sessions, discussing at the end of each session why
we proceeded in that manner or looked at new
methods to adopt.”
Monica is keen to continue skill sharing at the
beginning of the new school year to help others
benefit from the music sessions.
In addition, Monica has been asked to present her
work with music more widely and deliver some
preliminary training to other teachers within the
County. The Education Authorities will endorse the
training by providing all attendees with a certificate.
Music as Therapy is delighted that Monica’s skills,
experience and achievements are being recognised
and will provide the necessary support to help
Monica develop her new role.

In Cluj, Local Partner, Anca Illies from the Centru de
Zi ‘Sf. Maria’ helped support music student, Oxana
Muresan, in her work with children with autism at the
Autism-Transilvania Centre also in Cluj. Oxana had
contacted Music as Therapy after being invited to
run music sessions at the Centre, but had received
no training or had any previous experience of using
music in a therapeutic context. Music as Therapy put
her in touch with Anca who invited her to observe
some music sessions at Sf.Maria.
Oxana wrote... ”I am a beginner in music therapy, so
I was happy to meet with people who have received
training and have more experience in this field. I
came to the center and met Anca and her assistant.
They showed me the music therapy room, the
instruments they use, explained the way their music
therapy sessions go. They also gave me a lot of
activities and music games I can try with children
and the model of evaluation form to help me keep
track of the children's progress. We also talked
about the specific needs of autistic children and
discussed the possible solutions in different
situations which may arise in my music sessions. So
I found my visit very fruitful, it is very good to know
that there are people ready to help when there is a
need!”
Working with autistic children can be very
unpredictable and knowing this Anca kindly offered
to support Oxana by assisting her in her first and
Our Local Parnters in Cluj - Anca Ilies seated, front left
second sessions. One of the clients ‘P’ did become
agitated in the second session and although Anca
has 10 years’ experience, she sought supervision
from the Music as Therapy Advisory Panel.
She reported back a few weeks later... “Thank you
very much for your support. The things started to go
well, Oxana succeeded to involve ‘P’ in the sessions
for few seconds and when he started to become
agitated she ended the session (with the regular
goodbye song) and for me this proved (again) that in
time the music therapy will work for him too, but we
need patience.”
In Bacau, the Fundatia de Sprijin Comunitar (FSC) team are
organising their third International Conference entitled “Together
Through Art for People with Disabilities” and have invited Music as
Therapy to be part of the organising committee. The Conference is
for professionals currently using various forms of art therapy in
their work with people with disabilities in Romania. It will be held on
10-12th September in Brasov. We know several Local Partners
are attending and Alexia looks forward to seeing you there.
Congratulations also go to FSC for their recent award at the ERSTE
Foundation Awards for Social Inclusion.
Also in Bacau, UK music therapist, Wendy Halstead accompanied Mary Turner from the charity ‘Muzika’ to
work on an assessment project for various care settings in the county, one of which had received a six-week
Introductory Training Project from Music as Therapy in 1996. Mary approached Music as Therapy and asked
if we could source a music therapist from the UK to help her carry out the research. The aims of the project
were “To compare the level of response and development in the institutions and to report to the Directorate
on the perceived changes in care and environment and its impact on the residents.” Wendy travelled with
Mary and delivered some ad hoc sessions and training as well as some assessment work.
And Finally…
Music as Therapy would like to acknowledge the life works and achievements of Doina Pocioanu, Founder
and Director of Centrul de Art Terapie Eliza Ionescu, who sadly passed away earlier this year. A true
pioneer.
7

Questions and Answers
Training Other Staff
I have been running music sessions in the Centre
where I work for several years, but recently I’ve
been given many new responsibilities which
means that I no longer have time to do them. I
am sad about this because I know that the music
sessions helped the children. All of the other staff
who were trained with me have now left the
centre, but there is one new person who would
like to learn to do the sessions. Please can you
suggest some ways that I could show this person
how to run the music sessions instead of me?
Alexia Quin writes: “There is a learning theory
based around three steps: TELL, SHOW and DO.
As a bare minimum, I think these steps could
structure handing over the leadership of music
sessions. You can tell the person how to do it, but
they will only really understand when they see
sessions in action (when you SHOW them how it is
done). They will then only have the confidence and
true insight that will enable them to keep the
sessions going if they themselves have a chance to
DO the work, observed and supported by you. This
process would probably be sufficient to hand over
the running of an established, structured group. For
more new or more complex groups and for individual
work I think a longer period of supervision and
support should be built in. Meet regularly to discuss
the work and how your colleague is planning
activities and responding to the ideas the children
bring to sessions. It is when things don’t go
according to plan that your greater experience will
be hugely helpful.”
Emma Lovell also suggests “shadowing, discussing,
supporting, observing” as a collection of training
techniques, and Melanie Wells suggests: “As a
starting point you could use the handbook which
was left by the original trainers from Music as
Therapy, if you still have this. It would be beneficial
if you go through it with them to help them
understand it.” Melanie also suggests using roleplay
to help the new member of staff to really think
about the experience of the clients in the sessions
s/he will be running: “Use the instruments to roleplay
a music session. To begin with let the member
of staff role-play a child that she will be working with.
Discuss how it felt for her to be the child with you
responding to them. Then swap over and you roleplay
the child and they be the session leader. Let
them explore using the instruments to respond to
you. Allow time to feedback afterwards, if there are
any suggestions for the member of staff you could
try role-playing again to demonstrate.”
Emily Cawdron encourages you to think about the
8
sustainability and quality of the work you are training
the new member to staff to take on: “You have a
responsibility to ensure that they deliver the
sessions to the best of their ability to ensure that as
the skills are shared they are not changed or
‘watered down’ (obviously developments are a good
thing!) To be able to train this person properly you
will have to invest some time in this and perhaps not
take on all your new responsibilities immediately.
This needs to be given some time.”
Keeping Focused
One of the children in my group is often
distracted and cannot concentrate easily on the
activities. In order to keep the children focused
we decided to punish the person who does not
pay attention (for example excluding him/her
from one activity). We had positive results with
this method. What do you think about this?
Alexia Quin writes: “What you have chosen here is
a behaviour management strategy and it appears to
be working. However it is possible that it might only
work for a bit, or it will only work in the context of
your sessions. One of the reasons for this is that
behaviour management strategies only look at the
behaviour of the child and don’t consider the
reasons why a child might be behaving in this way
or how it feels for the child to be unable to selfregulate
their behaviour.” Alexia suggests you could
also try the following:
• “Keep activities very short and fast moving so that
children don’t have time to bore.
• When offering the children turns, keep these short.
Aim to lengthen the turns.
• Every time you sense a child is getting restless
offer them a turn, even if that means they have
additional turns of an activity in between other group
members. Aim to gradually reduce the number of
additional turns offered.
• Try a fast moving activity within which it is possible
to miss your turn if you are not focussing, but this is
a funny component of the game and not a
punishment. Perhaps give each child a beater and
fly a cymbal around the room/past each child giving
them a brief moment to strike it on its way past.
• If a child leaves the group continue to offer turns to
his/her empty chair and allow a short silence of
him/her not participating. This means the child
continues to be part of the activity despite his efforts
to escape, so he/she may feel they might as well
actively take part!”
Emma Penketh suggests: “Combine focussed
activities that require taking turns or playing in a
particular way (e.g. fast and slow) with more
improvised activities (which will allow the child to
come in and out of the activity as and when they are
able)”. Becca Sayers adds: “When I have been

working with children who find it difficult to take turns
or listen to each other I've used a visual way to show
whose turn it is (e.g. an egg timer with coloured
sand) so that each person can see how long they
have been the centre of attention and when it will
next be their turn.”
However, Becca also questions how appropriate it is
to exclude a child from a music session and
suggests using the time and space in the session to
address any underlying issues the child may have:
“It's worth considering that this person may often
have the experience of being excluded from groups
as punishment for being disruptive and therefore it
would be extremely helpful for them to have an area
(the music session) where he is not excluded and
his disruption is dealt with in a different way.”
Activity!
Create Your Own Activities...
There are various types of activities I invented
during the sessions, others that I learnt from my
colleagues and others I read about in Impreuna
or other magazines. I learnt to use music therapy
by dancing with the musical instruments; I gave
the instruments a ‘soul’ and a name and they
became our partner in role-play; I acquired
cognitive findings with the help of the instruments
and learn spatial positions as: up-down, left-right,
front-behind etc. Most of the times, the activity
ideas were suggested even by the clients.
Maia Indrie, Centrul Scolar pentru Educatie
Incluziva Nr.1, Oradea
Developing Speech
I’ve noticed that some children in my group use
their voices more in music sessions than at other
times. Is it ok to use music sessions to develop
speech? Can you give me some ideas?
Becca Sayers writes: “Music is an excellent way of
encouraging the development of speech. Well done!”
Emily Cawdron adds: “If music therapeutic
techniques can help develop speech then this is
more than OK, it’s brilliant.” Emma Penketh
explains: “For some children music encourages the
use of the voice because for them it is an instinctive
way to improvise. They may find the music group
less threatening than other settings therefore
motivating them to communicate.” Emma also
emphasises the importance of working with the
whole child: “Be wary, however, of concentrating on
the development of speech as your sole aim, as this
may put pressure on yourself and the children.
Encourage the use of the voice as part of a varied
selection of activities.”
Several panel members had ideas of ways to
incorporate developing vocal sounds and speech as
part of the sessions. Becca suggests: “If you are
confident in using your own voice you could try
echoing and developing sounds they make within
music yourself.” Emma Penketh suggests the
following: “Pass a vocal sound or instrumental sound
around the circle; Two groups take turns to make
loud and soft sounds using voice or instruments; In
a group improvisation, give the children a choice
between voice, an instrument or both.”
Alexia, Emily and Emma Lovell suggest using songs.
Emily explains: “Start with very familiar territory for
them and use a lot of repetition. Repetition helps
memory, physical function of the mouth to help them
learn what it feels like to form a word and also builds
confidence with learning something.” Alexia adds: “I
don’t know how able your clients are but one idea I
had was to make up a song which has gaps inviting
people to take turns contributing funny vocal sounds
(e.g. “I had a parrot who tried to talk, but the only
sound he made was…”) You could then repeat the
verse, with the whole group trying to copy the
suggested vocal sound.”
Organising Large Groups
What is the best way to organise sessions for a
place with many beneficiaries? When we do large
groups we can’t do it each week because we
don’t have enough staff. But if we don’t include
everyone, we are sad that some children don’t
get a turn. What should we do? Is it important to
do sessions each week? How else can we include
many children in the music programme?
There were some varied responses from panel
members to this question. Emily Cawdron
sympathises with your situation: “One of the hardest
things to do in this job is to prioritise people for the
music programme when you feel that you literally
don’t have enough arms or heads to do the job! But,
as you say, you don’t have enough staff. When
delivering work like this we have to be realistic about
what we can manage. It is important that all the
children get a turn, but not everyone has to be
involved all the time.”
Becca Sayers suggests: “Perhaps you could see
individual people every week normally and then
once a month have a big group session.” If staffing
levels are not high enough to run large groups,
Emma Lovell suggests splitting larger groups into
two, three or four smaller groups. Becca suggests
alternating two smaller groups: “You could divide
people up so that you see a smaller group every
other week so that each group has a session every
two weeks.”
9

Several panel members suggest using some form of
rotation system. Emma Penketh writes: “Create a
long term plan. For example: work in shorter blocks
of sessions (e.g. 6-8 weeks) with a reasonably sized
group of children (no more that 8). Have a clear
beginning, middle and end to each block. Then
change to a new group and so on.” With this in
mind, Emily Cawdron adds: “Anticipation will grow in
the children who are waiting and it may mean they
get more involved when it is their turn. Try not to
worry too much about not seeing all the children all
the time.”
Emma Penketh also suggests: “At the same time
run an ongoing group (again no more than 8). The
membership of this group will be made up of
children you have seen in the short blocks that you
feel would benefit from long term work and children
that you have already pin pointed as potentially
benefiting. In this way you will have two kinds of
groups running in tandem – short term groups and
ongoing groups. The sessions should take place
every week. Membership should be consistent,
whilst bearing in mind that small changes may need
to take place where appropriate.”
Improvising with Music
I work with adolescents and adults who have
musical abilities but who don’t dare to improvise.
I think it’s important for them to try this, though.
Do you? How can I encourage them?
Emma Penketh writes: “Give them time.
Demonstrate, and allow clients to just listen.
Acknowledge their fears by talking about them.” As
an initial step, she suggests: “Keep it simple (e.g.
pass the drum around the circle and ask each client
to make one sound. Do this several times,
encouraging them to make longer sounds).”
Emily Cawdron suggests: “If you use a song
regularly that they know, you could try doing a verse
of the song, then demonstrating a short
improvisation yourself, then returning to a verse and
demonstrating again, then asking if someone else
would like to try the next time the verse ends…and
so on.”
Alexia Quin also suggests structured activities or
using pre-composed, familiar songs as starting
points for building confidence in music-making, and
writes: “Then, as the group members’ confidence
grows, you, as session leader, can relax the
structure – passing the instrument around the group
inviting group members to play for as long or as
short as they want to. In time they might be more
open to elements of improvisation – everyone has
their own instrument and everyone plays in turn
around the group before ending with one minute
10
when everyone can play together, brought to an end
with a single cymbal crash! This final minute can be
extended until the group are spending the majority of
the time exploring music-making as a group”
Emma Lovell and Becca Sayers also suggest some
other ways to encourage the group into musicmaking.
Emma suggests using story telling, adding
sounds to narrative, describing emotions, events,
art-work through music, and Becca suggests: “You
could use a 'graphic score' where one person is the
creator of the piece and draws shapes or pictures to
depict what he'd like the others to play. You could
provide pictures (of faces or landscapes etc) and
encourage them to use instruments or sounds to
depict your images.”
Activity!
Different Rhythms
I like to play with one child and arrange in a circle
the big drums, the African drum, the big cymbal,
the acoustic sticks and we go around them and
beat them in a different rhythm every time we
pass them. We can beat the instrument suddenly
or in an echo, with the same rhythm or different
rhythms. The effect is superb, the children love it
and they tend to rush and run all around at some
point. I think it is very useful for shy children who
when caught up in such a game, are able to
express themselves better. At the end, we sing
something calm to relax.
Monica Szabo, Centrul Scolar pentru Educatie
Incluziva Nr.1, Oradea
Performing
My music therapy group has been going for a
while, and the young people in it are keen to
show others what they have done in this time. I
know that sessions are meant to be confidential,
but is there ever a good time for a group to
‘perform’ for others?
Emily Cawdron says: “Therapists tend to have very
varied feelings about the element of performing. For
some, it can be a natural point to work towards with
their clients, and with others it is inappropriate to
perform some work, depending on the therapist or
the client group. I think if the young people want to
do it, then it should become part of the work! After
all it is their stuff!”
Alexia Quin agrees, saying: “The process of getting
ready for a performance, the planning, negotiation
and practice can be approached therapeutically”. As
does Becca Sayers, who says: “I believe that as long
as the whole group agrees to perform, it can be a
really good experience.” Alexia also points out: “The
most important consideration for you, as session

leader, is: Are you confident that their performance
will be positively received? As long as you do not
think their expectations of the audience are
unrealistic and that their ‘performance’ will lead to
them being negatively judged, then I see no problem
with sharing their music-making with others.”
Staying Safe
My client can be quite unpredictable and
aggressive and sometimes I feel afraid in
sessions. I don’t want to stop working with him
because I have seen many benefits of the
sessions for him, so how can I make sure that I
am safe in the sessions?
This question generated a high level of response
from the Panel, which suggests this is a challenge
faced by practitioners in the UK too and something
they have had to give a lot of thought to. Emma
Penketh writes: “In order for you to work effectively it
is important that you both feel safe”. Between them,
the panel had a number of suggestions why your
client might behave aggressively (might he also be
feeling afraid?) and how you might run sessions so
that you both feel safe:
a) Verbalising the need for safety:
Melanie Wells suggests: “It can be helpful to remind
him at the beginning of the sessions that it is
important that you are both safe in the sessions. Let
him know that he can use the instruments to play
how he feels but remind him that it is important he
uses them safely. Providing secure boundaries are
very important to help each other to feel safe.” Anne
Fitz writes: “Depending on your clients level of
understanding it may be worth having some kind of
discussion about this issue. Perhaps it would be
useful to have some basic rules/guidelines that can
be agreed e.g. ‘No one gets hurt and the
instruments do not get broken.’”
b) Choosing which instruments to have in the room:
Anne Fitz writes: “I am currently working with an 8-
year-old who tends to throw small objects and
instruments directly at people so at present I have
chosen only to use larger instruments and no
beaters.” Melanie Wells agrees: “Sometimes it can
feel overwhelming for the client to have a lot of
instruments at their disposal and difficult for them to
manage them safely. If you feel he is using an
instrument unsafely which could harm himself, you
or the instrument, then you should advise him that
you will have to take it away until he is ready to use
it safely.” She adds: “Once you feel they are ready,
you could gradually start to reintroduce the
instruments, for example you could start with an
instrument which you can share and hold on to such
as the ‘ocean drum’.”
c) Choosing your position in the room:
Anne Fitz writes: “In working with certain clients I
have found it helpful to think carefully about how I
have positioned furniture and instruments in the
therapy room. For example, you may feel less
vulnerable if you are able to sit near the door as
then you will be able to call for help easily or leave
safely.”
d) Asking another person to come into the session or
to stay nearby:
Emma Penketh asks: “Would it be possible to have
someone with you as an assistant? You would
facilitate the sessions and the assistant would aid
you (e.g. pass instruments, join in improvisations).”
Emma Lovell adds: “Ask someone to sit outside the
room - or, if needs be, inside the room, and explain
to your client that the ‘buddy’ is there to help keep
everyone safe.”
e) Deciding to end the session:
Melanie writes: “If at any point in the session you
feel unsafe and at risk, remember it is ok to stop the
session, but it is important you let your client know
why and that you will be there for them again next
session.”
f) Choosing a time for the sessions:
Anne writes: “Perhaps it is worth considering if there
are any things that may trigger certain behaviours
e.g. events preceding the session, time of day,
health issues, levels of hunger, tiredness etc.
Although I appreciate this is not always possible, I
have sometimes found that changing the time of a
session can make a big difference to levels of
engagement (e.g. a child I was working with tended
to be very stressed when his session took place
immediately after he had had physical education as
it was a lesson he found very hard to cope with.
When I moved his session to first thing in the
morning he was much calmer and more able to
engage in our work.)”
Finally, if it is not possible to make the sessions safe
for both you and your client using some or all of
these ideas, Emma Penketh reminds you: “If the
sessions become unmanageable I would suggest
you end the sessions, explaining to your client and
those involved in their care the reasons for this.”
Autism
Are autistic children sensitive to loud noise? My
client doesn’t seem to like it when I play loudly. Is
this something I can work with, or something I
should respect and always play quietly?
Emma Lovell suggests: “Go to www.nas.org.uk for
information about how some people with autism can
have a sensitivity to sound:
”People with autism may experience some form of
11

sensory sensitivity. This can occur in one or more of
the five senses - sight, sound, smell, touch and
taste. A person's senses are either intensified
(hypersensitive) or under-sensitive (hypo-sensitive).
For example, a person with autism may find certain
background sounds, which other people ignore or
block out, unbearably loud or distracting. This can
cause anxiety or even physical pain. People who are
hypo-sensitive may not feel pain or extremes of
temperature. Some may rock, spin or flap their
hands to stimulate sensation, to help with balance
and posture or to deal with stress.”
(National Autistic Society)
Becca Sayers writes: “Some autistic children do
seem to be sensitive to loud noises and it might be
detrimental to play loud noises just to try and 'work
with it'. However, it is worth experimenting so your
client can learn that you respond and react to
sounds he shows an aversion to.”
Anne Fitz writes: “Are certain specific sounds
especially difficult for the child you are working with?
Is their reaction due to the sounds being
unpredictable and thus anxiety provoking? When
working with some children with Autistic Spectrum
Disorder I have avoided instruments that are
unpredictable and hard to control (e.g. ocean drum
or wind chimes) as those who are particularly
sensitive to sound can find them overwhelming. But I
can also think of children who have really enjoyed
loud sounds, especially when they have produced
them themselves and are in control. also work with
children who seem to be very sensitive to loud
noises, ye use fairly loud sounds themselves,
sometimes to block out other sounds, to comfort
themselves or as an expression of emotion (e.g.
excitement, fear or pleasure). Anne adds:
“Depending upon your client’s level of understanding
some structured musical activities may be useful in
which predictable sounds are used at certain times
(e.g. Activities that require pre-selected sounds; a
musical story, or games where instruments are
linked with pictures or played in a repeating
pattern).”
Addressing Loss and Sadness
Many of our clients have been transferred to
other Centres and are noticeably missed in the
sessions. How do I address these feelings of loss
and sadness in sessions and is there a way to use
the sessions to prepare the other children who
will be transferred in the future?
Julia Serebriakov says: “The fact that you have
picked up on the sadness within the group and want
to acknowledge it will be so helpful to your clients,
as it is often a topic that gets avoided.” She
suggests: “ You could try to verbally acknowledge
12
the feelings at an appropriate point in the session by
saying "Maybe you/we are feeling sad today" or after
an improvisation "That music seemed sad"
(sometimes it is easier to talk about the music
feeling sad than talking directly about feelings). You
could combine this with bringing a photo of the
child/friend who is being missed to a session as a
way to remember them. Then suggest the children
make up/improvise some music or a song for the
missing friend.”
Emma Penketh agrees: “It is important to
acknowledge these feelings of loss. Talk about the
changes that are happening and try improvising
around the feelings (e.g. gentle sounds on the
metallophone to reflect sadness and loud sounds on
the drum to acknowledge anger).”
Emma and Julia also have some suggestions for
when you know in advance that a child will be
leaving. Emma explains: “If you know when a client
is leaving then talk about this and have a clear ‘last
session’ for them in which the client and his fellow
group members can say goodbye.” Julia adds:
“Ending each session with a goodbye song in which
the child can participate either by singing goodbye or
playing an instrument is a good way of preparing for
endings and loss in general. You could also
introduce a countdown chart 3 or 4 weeks before the
transfer and or the end in therapy. Show it to the
client/s at the start of the session so that their
feelings about the ending can then be thought about
during the session. Finally, for those who are going
to be transferred, try to prepare them as early as
possible with some of the above and your own
ideas. Also, you could consider obtaining a photo
or an object to represent the new home/centre which
you bring to the session to make some music about
or talk about. Try to help the clients think about the
things they might be looking forward to about the
move as well as the sad things.”
Working with Parents
The difficulty I am currently experiencing is not
with my clients, but with their parents! They fail
to fully grasp their child’s limitations and they
sometimes ask the therapist to perform magic
and to make their child able to speak again. I
find this frustrating, but at the same time I
understand it is hard for them as they receive
little or no counselling and often lack support.
What is the best way to deal with parents who
have unrealistic expectations?!
Emma Penketh and Emma Lovell both encourage
you to find ways to clearly explain the aims of the
sessions to parents. Emma Penketh suggests:
“Write the aims of the sessions down and give it to
the parent along with an explanation of music
therapy. Emphasise that you are working on building

confidence, expression, interactional skills and
relationships and that speech is only one aspect of
this.”
Becca Sayers says: “I imagine that you are already
trying to stress how well their children are
developing even though there is no miracle cure”
Becca and Emma both suggest writing regular
reports for parents on their child’s progress as one
way of doing this. Emma Lovell suggests a further
possibility: “Perhaps find a way to involve the
parents in the sessions so they can see for
themselves their child’s abilities within a safe and
creative environment. This might also help them to
understand the aims of the sessions and expected
outcomes.”
Activity!
Tokens
One of their favourite activities is when the
children receive a token, each a different colour
and they choose an instrument that corresponds
to the colour of their token and then sing in the
order of the colours presented by the leader. The
children have fun, wait for their turn to sing and
happily improvise melodies and even hum them.
Lavinia Gogan, Centrul Scolar pentru Educatie
Incluziva Nr.1, Oradea
Case Studies
My client is a 14-year-old boy with provocative
behaviour. I find his behaviour challenging to
work with and would really appreciate some
advice.
“In the beginning ‘A’ did not respond to any audiovisual
stimulus that we proposed. He was not
interested in any instruments he was offered, in fact
he would throw them and only seemed amused by
the sounds they produced on falling. The biggest
problems now are his anger and ability to self-harm.
The older he gets, the greater the problem. We
decided to try to calm him down by using musical
instruments. This fact could diminish his crises and,
in time, they could disappear completely.
We have noticed that, after a few sessions, the boy
was attracted by the drum sounds - strong sounds.
We also have noticed that when he is about to have
a crisis, if we use the drum, the strong sounds
captivate him and he stops self-harming. We took
the decision to try and find other instruments that
could calm him down and stop him from behaving
this way. Is there anything else we could do to
help?”
As a general comment, Anne Fitz suggests: ‘It may
be worth thinking a little about the behaviours you
have seen, are there any triggers or patterns? Does
he self-harm when he is angry, afraid, frustrated,
stressed etc’. Anne also suggests two additional
ways to use the drum:
a) You say that he finds strong drum sounds
captivating, perhaps you could also use the drum in
some other ways: the drum can be used to create a
steady beat like a heart beat, providing reassurance;
a steady beat could accompany a simple song or a
melody played on the xylophone.
b) As your client is especially drawn to drum sounds,
perhaps some musical activities based around a
range of these sounds may interest him e.g. setting
the drums out in different way (e.g. in a circle around
the room or grouped in the style of a drum kit).
Emma Penketh writes: “It is likely that the reason
the drums are so effective is because the powerful
sound they produce reflects the anger he feels.
Concentrate, therefore, on the style of your playing,
i.e. play with vigour and show that you are hearing
his frustration. Other instruments that may produce
strong sounds like this are the cymbals and the
lower notes on the metallophone. The next step will
be for him to play too and experience feelings
through playing the instruments, but this could take
time – building trust between you should be your
focus for now.” Anne agrees, “As time goes on, you
may choose to focus upon calming him down, or
instead you may allow him to express some strong
feelings on certain robust instruments. A musical
activity that uses bursts of loud drumming (e.g. using
some kind of Go and Stop structure), may be a safe
way of exploring this.” Finally, Emma adds: ”It is
important also to balance these big sounds with
gentle sounds when he is having quieter moments.”
My client is a 17-year-old boy who is usually very
calm, but is very fearful when it rains, especially
when it thunders. We play calm music to him, but
what else can we do to help him?
“My client is a 17-year-old boy, who is usually very
calm, but whose behaviour changes entirely when it
is raining, especially when the thunder is loud. His
fear is so strong that he lies in bed covering himself
with a blanket and repeats ‘rain, rain’, ‘beats, beats’.
We would like to help diminish his fear. We always
play calm music to him but it is difficult to remove
him from this state. He prefers instrumental music,
his favourite instrument being the guitar. For the time
being he calms down through this method, but it
would be ideal to have some recordings with sounds
from nature (heavy rain) to demonstrate and show
him that there is no reason to be frightened. During
our therapy sessions we showed him that strong
sounds can be produced by different instruments:
drum, trumpet, cymbals. Can you suggest anything
else we can do to help?”
Clare Sargent writes: “This is quite a tricky one and
I wonder if using music is the only way of
13

approaching it. Do you have access to the internet?
Is the young man able to understand basic
concepts? Could you find some thunder storms on
the internet and discuss what creates the thunder?
Look at them together and talk him through what is
happening.”
Clare goes on to say: “In terms of using music how
about creating a weather composition? Talk about
the weather together: discuss the differences of the
sun, rain, heat, cold, snow and thunder and
lightning. Talk about how the different weather
conditions make the young man feel. If he has no
real speech perhaps tell him how you feel about the
different conditions and try to include him in your
answers, asking ‘What do you think?’ etc. After this
think about the different instruments which best
represent the sun, rain etc and gradually build
together a collage of music...you could even try and
create a graphic score....using picture symbols to
write it out. This is certainly something which could
be done together in a group or as just the 2 of you if
it is an individual session. Can you make up some
weather songs for him and perhaps use these when
there is a thunder storm?
Emma Penketh adds: “It might be helpful to
demonstrate how you can play the instruments
louder and louder and then soft again like a
thunderstorm. If he is willing to play a little he could
join in. Make it fun so he experiences these
contrasting sounds in a supported environment.”
Clare finishes by saying: “You don't mention how he
reacts when you play the strong sounds...does he
retreat then? Try and reflect on his behaviour that
you understand that the thunder can be frightening
for many people. I'm not sure that just playing the
strong sounds without context is necessarily going to
help him. It's a difficult one, lots of people have
strong reactions to thunder and perhaps in the end it
is just calming music that he needs.”
was showing me the rhythm and the intensity of the
sound by moving her head, but in the same position
with the hands behind her back. This interaction was
pleasing both of us. After four weeks she stopped in
front of the instruments box, she took a stick and
hardly hit the big drum. She laughed, threw away the
stick and sat down in her usual position. Now our
sessions continue in the same way of interaction, I
play the xylophone in the rhythm B.P. dictates me
with her head movements. My aim is to encourage
her to use her hands for playing instruments and not
for breaking windows, to use her strength to hit the
instruments. She prefers strong, loud sounds and
instruments that produce these sounds.”
Emma Penketh writes: “Your aims are valid and well
thought out. It is encouraging that she is already
showing signs that she wants to engage with you
and would like to make musical sounds. At the
moment it is safe for her to communicate only with
head movements. In light of her behaviour outside
the sessions, it could be that she is afraid to play the
instruments in case she breaks them. This will take
time and gentle encouragement on your part,
through demonstration – show that you can play the
instruments with passion without breaking them, and
quietly too. Talk about what you are doing. Set
aside a short time in the session to do this and the
rest of the time play to her, acknowledging her
movements and the feelings in the room.”
My client is a young girl who is aggressive, often
breaking windows and sometimes even selfharming.
Our aim is to try to teach her the use of
her hands and her strength for playing
instruments.
“B.P. is a young girl with a serious
neuropsychological condition. She is aggressive and
sometimes even self-harms. The reason she
decided to attend music sessions is that she made it
a habit to break windows. She tried different
therapies, but with no results. My idea was that in
music making she can use her hands for enjoyable
and pleasant activities instead of destruction. At our
first meeting it was her strange position she took that
struck me. She sat down with her hands behind her
back, which meant physical refusal to touch
anything. The sound of the xylophone pleased her.
In our next meeting we were communicating: she
14

Activity!
Playing with Puppets
- I use for very small children from the Early Intervention Department, who lack language (are in the prelanguage
stage) puppets or soft toys that represent animals, because they can play with them and they
can sing songs where they use various animal sounds or simple words connected to the body scheme or
action words.
- In addition, they can sing using these animals, various syllables and sounds close to the production
level of very small children. At the same time, they can change the tone of their voice, becoming very light
(e.g. the cub) or very strong (e.g. the lion). This way, we manage to communicate.
- I almost always place a bell or a rattle toy on the animal, or I hold a stick to the wing or paw of the
animal, with which I can tap a beat, or which I can trade with the child, should the child be interested.
- I am amazed at how well the puppet play works combined with vocal singing and with minor instruments
or sound toys.
- In addition, with family puppets (e.g. 2 - 3 rabbits or human figure puppets) can act simple scenes of
love, bedtime or morning waking, because the little ones seem very interested in stories of these routines,
singing out the action performed (for example “rocking baby / rocking baby” or “momma washes baby”).
Temi Stoi, Centrul de Educatie Speciala ‘Speranta’, Timisoara
Supervision Opportunity!
Culturally sensitive therapy and supervision available in Oradea, Romania,
and by Skype and messenger with webcams.
Roger Day PTSTA (Psychotherapy), Certified Play Therapist and Christine Day Formator Acredit, NNEB,
Diploma in Counselling are offering supervision to those working with the arts therapies in Romania:
Specialist areas:
Creative and relational therapy using where appropriate a wide range of art,
music, small world toys and natural objects.
Supervision of Play Therapy, Transactional Analysis and other creative models,
including work with children.
Helping trainees to prepare case studies and CTA written exams (Roger was a
full-time editor and writer in England for over 20 years).
Final details of CTA exam preparation, including understanding and working with
the exam process.
Romanian rates, with payment made by cash, bank transfer or PayPal.
Roger and Christine will be available from the beginning of September until their return to live in England in
the Autumn of 2010. They will continue to fulfil commitments to supervisees and clients after that, where
appropriate.
For further information contact Roger and Christine at romaniaretreat@hotmail.com
or telephone 0359 445 458.
15

Celebrating 10
Years of Support!
The Gordon Fraser
Charitable Trust has been
supporting the work of Music
as Therapy over the last 10
years and first helped fund
the six–week Introductory
Training Project at Centru de
Zi ‘Sf.Maria’ in Cluj back in
1999! They have continued to fund various projects
over the years, but increasingly felt the Newsletter
was fundamental in helping Local Partners share
their experiences, as well as providing a tangible
support for the network. Realising the importance of
this and wishing to help promote Local Partners’
work internationally, they have asked that their
annual donation be allocated towards the Newsletter
for the last 5 years. The Trust have not only
supported us financially, but have been key in
helping to keep the Music as Therapy team spirit
going and have always believed in what we’re doing
in times of difficulty - thank you! We asked Trustee
Margret Moss exactly why they have chosen to
support MasT International over the last 10 years...
Why did you choose to support Music as Therapy
International 10 years ago?
Music therapist Clare Reynolds was working in the
Stirling area of Scotland in 1999. She had the
Trust’s address, rang the door one day, introduced
herself, and talked about Music as Therapy with
such enthusiasm that of course I agreed that an
official appeal should be sent. It sounded exactly the
sort of charity – small but accomplishing much – that
has always appealed to my co-trustee, Bill
Anderson, and me and the written material
supported everything that Clare had told me.
What made you pledge long-term support to the
charity rather than a one-off donation?
All charities need to plan two or more years in
advance, because not all their projects are shortterm.
Having a three year commitment from a trust
clearly helps budget-planning and reduces some of
the pressure to fundraise. We began with one-off
donations for the first three years but by 2002 felt
confident to commit longer term support as we have
continued to do.
What are aspects of Music as Therapy’s work in
Romania that stand out for you and that you tell
others about if you are asked about the charity?
We have always liked the way the UK therapists are
in essence trying to work themselves out of a job by
training Romanians to carry on the work in their own
16
country. Despite that, the Local Partners know that
Music as Therapy is always there to give long term
support where and when it should be needed. It is, I
think, an excellent idea that volunteers accompany
the trained therapists. I feel sure the Romanians will
relate to the volunteers who are also learning; for the
latter it is an opportunity to see if they wish to train
for a career in music therapy, as some have indeed
gone on to do.
What was it about the Annual Newsletter that
made you want to support this publication?
The fact that so much useful information as well as
general news is disseminated through the Annual
Newsletter: information about grant applications,
training courses, ways of dealing with difficult cases,
new activities etc. This makes the Newsletter into a
really practical manual for everyone, especially
those working in the more isolated areas. There
was also the practical fact that money was needed
from somewhere for the Newsletter!
Can you tell us a bit about your grant-making
foundation, the Gordon Fraser Charitable Trust?
The Trust was created in 1966 as the largest
shareholder in my father’s greetings card, giftwrap
and book publishing company. It has donated money
since 1989 when the company was sold and can
make donations to any organisation that is a
registered charity. Four times a year we select 25
charities to whom we make donations. We like to
feel we can make a difference and therefore tend to
avoid very large charities. We rarely make donations
for work abroad, so Music as Therapy stands out as
an exception.
As a grant-making foundation, what do you think
about Music as Therapy’s new international
direction?
I felt some concern for the Local Partners in
Romania - partly because of the very close ties
Music as Therapy has there and also because the
compactness of the organisation was one aspect
that attracted us to it in the first place. However, ties
with Romania will remain and for organisations to
remain healthy there must be change and growth.
One must remember that these changes have come
about due to success, namely the ability of the Local
Partners to become ever more independent thus
giving Music as Therapy the opportunity to bring its
expertise to other parts of the world. Having spoken
to the office team and having recently had a second
visit from Clare Reynolds I now feel very optimistic.
Have you got any messages for our Local
Partners in Romania?
I should like to congratulate all Music as Therapy’s
Local Partners on all that has been achieved and
wish them Good Luck for the future!

Celebrating 10 Years of Using
Music!
Anca Illies from the Centru de Zi ‘Sf.Maria’ in Cluj,
first received her six-week Introductory Training from
Music as Therapy in 1999! Although Anca and the
Centre have faced many challenges over the last 10
years, she has always remained committed to the
children and young
adults who attend
the Day Centre and
enjoyed the benefits
of using music with
them. We have
always been
impressed by her
dedication and
positive approach
and decided to find
out more.
Can you tell us about your very first impressions
of sessions held with the Music as Therapy team?
Even though many years have gone past, the first
music therapy sessions are stuck in my mind. It is a
fascinating field for me as far as working methods,
instruments, marvellous results are concerned and
last but not least the fantastic connection set
between therapist and client.
What or who has helped you maintain your
dedication to music over the past ten years?
My clients, the results and the permanent
collaboration with the Music as Therapy team.
What would you say to a parent who said “Music
therapy… my child won’t be able to play music!”?
I would say that music therapy does not solely mean
to sing, does not mean performance in musical skills
but it means an emotional opening, a perfect
harmony of the whole personality of a child and free
expression that a child uses to use his/her potential.
For us, ‘singing’ may only simply mean a
vocalisation, ‘lalalala’, but for a client it is important
that he/she opens up and is able to express without
inhibitions.
Do you have any advice to someone who was just
starting to run music sessions and finding it
challenging?
To keep going without any fear, to put inhibitions
aside, to create their own style based on intuition
and creating a unique and special soul connection
with each individual client. I would also wish that
during their career, each music sessions to become
a positive challenge. And also to think that there are
never pure negative experiences and that there is
always something to learn even from a failure.
Which client groups have you worked with over
the years?
I have been working with children, adolescents and
adults with severe learning disabilities.
You now have a lot of experience, do you feel
that you are an expert in using music? If not,
why not?
I do not consider myself an expert in music therapy
because it is such a vast field and it brings so many
challenges that I will never be able to say ‘finished, I
know it all’. This brings me joy because it gives me
the opportunity to further develop as a specialist.
Why is music an important tool for you in your
work? What does it offer that other ways
of working do not?
Because it is a non-invasive method that creates a
special relationship between client and therapist ‘and
brings to surface the internal and potential resources
within a client’.
Is there a client, or group of clients, that you feel
you have had particular success using music with?
Working with autistic children, although every
progress my clients make I consider it to be a
special success.
How are you going to be developing your work
with music in the next 10 years?
By trying new methods and techniques, taking each
session as a new challenge, participating in more
training programmes and promising myself that I will
never make my music therapy a routine. I would like
to thank you from the bottom of my heart for all your
commitment and support you have been giving me
along these 10 years of collaboration.
17

The Benefits of Using Music
Each year, we request reports from our Local Partners to help us gain insight into their ongoing work with
music. Inevitably we read about the many challenges they encounter, and some of these are addressed in
our Question and Answer section on pages 8-12. However, we also get to read about all the positive
developments too, and this year we were delighted to read so many!
“Z.V. is a young man with whom I tried
different working techniques, but with no
satisfying results. I have been working with him
for two years now and started music therapy
sessions six months ago, thirty minutes a week.
He has never verbally communicated before, but
since we started our music therapy sessions he
has changed significantly. He has started to
verbally express himself, to listen to music, to
imitate the others. I have introduced him into a
group, together with two girls. They interact with
each other very well. He is imitating their singing,
pronouncing just half of one word (for example
the girls say ‘elephant’ and he says ‘phant’). The
first time the girls heard him speak, they were
very surprised and then told me: ‘He is talking!”
Aura Filip, Centrul Pilot de Servicii Comunitare,
Techirghiol
“The music sessions helped me a great
deal in working with children who have special
needs, especially with autistic children and those
with behavioural issues. All these years I worked
with many groups and I felt all their emotions.
Sometimes we had failures, but most of the times
we managed to improve their communication
skills and their aggressive behaviour as well as
helping them to maintain visual contact with
others.”
Eleonora Bobaru, C.S.C. ‘Cristina’, Constanta
“I have been working individually with a girl
who is an elective mute who used not to
communicate with me at the beginning, not even
through drawing. Her only ways of expressing
herself to me were some slight xylophone beats.
Today, she talks to me, to other girls, in groups,
with adults and we sometimes sing, shout and
dance together. She still has problems speaking
in front of the class but we will carry on working.
She now understands and answers easy
commands, lifts the soft toy we sing about and
copies a succession of sounds. She is a clear
example of the benefits of the sessions, just
because the only method I used with her is
music.”
Monica Szabo, Centrul Scolar pentru Educatie
Incluziva Nr.1, Oradea
“My client, ‘A’ does not communicate
verbally and being unable to communicate his
wishes, he becomes restless and violent. That is
when I decided to go take him to the music
therapy room. I allowed him to choose his
favourite instruments (the big drum and the
cymbal) and he plays them for 15 minutes. I sit
next to him accompanying him with the
tambourine. After this session, ‘A’ calms down
and by communicating non-verbally, I manage to
understand what he wants.”
Mugioiu Cristina-Simona, ‘Speranta’, Sibiu
“I have been working with a pre-school
client with behavioural problems. It was very
difficult for him to open up, to express his
emotions in an appropriate manner and he
became angry, aggressive and unwilling to
cooperate. Music therapy offered me alternatives
to working with this client and offered him the
opportunity to enjoy and explore his environment,
to enjoy positive experiences, all of this with the
help of music. Due to music, he has learnt to be
more relaxed, to enjoy the company of others
and is beginning to know how to express his
emotions no matter what they are.”
Maia Indrie, Centrul Scolar pentru Educatie
Incluziva Nr.1, Oradea
18

Local Partner Contact Details
Asociatia Down Oradea Romania
Piata 1 decembrie (Cresa)
Etaj 1
Cod 410073
Oradea
ADOR is an NGO which runs a day centre for young people and adults
with Down’s syndrome. They also have activities of early intervention:
music and speech therapy for children of pre-school and school age.
Contact Felicia Unguru, Tel: 0259 41 95 01, Email: ador@rdsor.ro
Centrul de Educatie Speciala ‘Speranta’, Timisoara
Strada Fagului Nr. 17
300561 Timisoara
‘Speranta’ offers an alternative form of education for children with special
needs, which contributes to the improvement of the lives of the children
and their families, by offering services and therapies, medical and
psychological assements and evalutaion and special activites to aid
recuperation. Contact Temi Stoi, Tel: 0256 49 50 05, E-mail:
Stoitemi_vic_gift7@yahoo.com
Centrul de Recuperare si Reabilitare pentru Persoane cu Handicap,
Cighid
Comuna Ciumeghiu
jud Bihor 3682
Rehabilitation centre for people with disabilities. The residents have mild
and complex disabilities, both physical and mental. Contact Dana Nistor,
Tel: 0298 62 16 01
Centrul de Plasament, Beclean
Str. Liviu Rebreanu Nr. 22A, 425100
jud Bistrita-Nasaud
A state run care centre for 117 children and young adults between the
ages of 7 and 26 years old. The centre has been refurbished and has
introduced ‘family style’ apartments housing up to 8 residents. Contact
Sorin Chindris, Tel: 0263 34 37 31
Complex de Servicii Comunitare ‘Cristina’, Constanta
Strada Pandurului nr.120
Constanta 8700
This centre is home to children with severe physical and mental
disabilities. It also has a day centre for children with disibilities. Contact
Veli Ghiunur, Tel: 0241488 661
Centrul Pilot de Servicii Comunitare pentru Persoane cu Handicap
si Formare de Personal, Constanta
str. Eroilor, nr.28,
loc. Techirghiol,
jud. Constanta
This centre is a new Pilot Centre for 100 residents with special needs
and disabilities. Contact Iliana Liliana, Tel: 0241 736 100
Centru de Plasament Sf. Spiridon, Botosani
Str. Maresal Antonescu Nr.8
Botosani
A care home for 85 children aged between 3 and 18 years old. The
majority of children have medium to severe mental and physical
disabilities. Contact Mihaela Codruta, Tel: 0231 51 60 10
Centru de Zi ‘Sf. Maria’, Cluj
Str. Strugurilor 18
Cluj 3400
This NGO centre aims to integrate socially and economically young
people with medium and severe learning difficulties through school and
work activities. The centre runs to suit their level of development.
Contact Anca Illies, Tel: 0264 41 40 22, E-mail:
handineuro@mail.dntcj.rol
“Ladislau Tacsi” Centre, Timisoara
Str. Slavici Ion bl. 14
Timisoara
The Tacsi Centre is a day centre for adults with severe disabilities run by
the Pentru Voi foundation. Contact Laila Onu/Mihaela Panciu, Tel: 0256
22 16 00, E-mail: pentruvoi@xnet.ro
Fundatia de Sprijin Comunitar, Bacau
Str. Livezilor nr. 1
sc. A, ap. 2
Bacau
This NGO provides social, medical and eduational services for
institutionalised children and adults, for poor families in rural areas.
IMPART is FSC’s 13-year-old project of creative arts for children and
adults with special needs in the NE of Romania. Contact: Lenuta
Nastac, Tel: 0234 585 640
Organizatia Terapia prin Arta, Timisoara
Str Odobescu Nr. 56a,
Timisoara 1900
‘Terapia prin Arta’ is a non profit NGO which aims to provide art therapy
recuperation services to the community and develop some alternative
services aiming to re-introduce into society children abandoned in
intritutions. Contact Mirela Navligu, Tel: 0256 493 775
Centrul Scolar pentru Educatie Incluziva Nr. 1, Oradea
Str. Ciorogaru Roman, nr. 48
Oradea
Bihor
A special school for children living with their families and also children
from Placement Centres, aged 7-18 years. Teaching takes place in the
morning and therapy/recuperation sessions take place in the afternoon.
Contact Monica Szabo, Tel: 0359 800 552, E-mail:
almossagocska@yahoo.com
Scoala Pentru Surzi, Vaslui
Str. Mihail Kogalniceanu Nr. 25
Vaslui 6500
This is a school for children with impaired hearing and special needs
from the ages of 3-18 years old. Contact Tatiana Draghici, Tel: 0235 31
15 54, E-mail: drtatiana2001@yahoo.com
Centrul Scolar pentru Educatie Inclusiva Nr.1, Bistrita
Str. Alba lulia nr. 20
Bistrita, Bistrita-Nasaud
A special school for 191 children aged 5 to 17 years old with a range of
emotional and behavioural problems. Some of the children reside at the
centre whilst the others stay with their families or in Placement Centres.
Contact Viorica Cretu, Tel: 0263 237 038 E-mail: scoalaspeciala@email.ro
Trust Orfelinat Ungureni
Centrul de Informare Pediatrica C.P. 105, O.P. 1
Bacau, 5500
TOU is an NGO which has been involved with helping the children of the
Camin/Spital Ungureni since 1990, and those in the paediatric section of
the Bacau County Hospital. Contact Cornelia Nechifor, Tel: 0214 231
929 , E-mail: cip@mic.ro
Casa Luminii, Sibiu
Str. Plopilor, Nr. 16
Sibiu
Casa Luminii is an NGO Day Centre for children aged 3-18. Contact
Florentina Schiau, Tel: 0269 21 25 99
Complexul de servicii comunitare pentru copilul cu handicap, Sibiu
Str. Transilvaniei, Nr. 2-4,
Sibiu
This is a State run Community Services Complex for children between
the ages of 0-18 years old. Contact Simona Benchea, Tel: 0269 226 294
Centrul de Zi “Podul Lung”, Timisoara
Str. Fagului Nr. 17
Timisoara 1900
Podul Lung is a day centre for children with disabilities. Contact Camelia
Giosan, E-mail: podulung@clicknet.ro
19

Music as Therapy International
The Co-op Centre
11 Mowll Street
London
SW9 6BG
Registered charity no. 1070760
Trustees: The Reverend Patsy Kettle, Gerald Orman Esq,
Sarah Clarke, Lady Catherine Lester,
Chris Bloomfield, Dr Hannah Reid
Tel/Fax: +44 (0)20 7735 3231
alexiaquin@musicastherapy.org
janerobbie@musicastherapy.org
cleojordan@musicastherapy.org
www.musicastherapy.org