Music therapists often use music to aid in recalling and discussing important life experiences. One of the music therapists at West Music has been educating students at the University of Iowa this year, and she shares ways in which implementing and teaching the skills for music-assisted reminiscence are different:

As I have been working with several University students this semester, I have been pondering more and more about reminiscence and how to effectively lead music-based reminiscence. Turns out that the skill I use most in my day-to-day practice is maybe one of the most difficult for me to explain or teach effectively! 

All week I’ve been telling my students that music helps “prime the pump” and that even if a client isn’t talking at the beginning of a session, by the end, music may have helped stimulate enough connections in the brain to facilitate some great conversation. As dementia progresses, it is often increasingly difficult to answer open-ended questions or to retrieve memories with a general prompt (i.e., Where did you like to go on vacation?). In these cases, we ask, “Do you like travelling to a beach?” or “Do you like being in the mountains?” And in some cases, when words are no longer available to our client, we sing their favorite songs and see them tap their toes or clap their hands or play an instrument to the song. Hearing someone share a memory that has been locked away gives me goosebumps every time and is one of the best parts of my job!

Hearing someone share a memory that has been locked away gives me goosebumps every time and is one of the best parts of my job!