Music Helps!
Did you know that LIVE music has beneficial effects that
contribute to the overall care of patients?
There is a great deal of
research
being done to document the beneficial effects of music on those who are
ill. Music is
being used successfully with many kinds of patients including those who are
temporarily ill and injured, chronically ill, critically ill, Alzheimer’s
patients, premature babies, birthing mothers, the comatose and the dying.
Music is also being used as an aid in preparation for and after surgery.
Live music, in particular, has been shown to relax the mind and body, allowing
more effective responses to medical treatment and enhancing the self-healing
work of the immune system. Unlike recordings, a Music Practitioner
is able to detect the patient's changing needs and adapt the music at a moment's
notice.
You too can experience the benefits of live music or
give it as a gift by enlisting the services of a trained Certified Music
Practitioner
TM.
For more concise information on how therapeutic music
works see the article:
What is Healing Music? A Closer Look
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What is a Certified Music
Practitioner?
A Certified Music
Practitioner (CMP)
TM brings pleasant and appropriate live music to the bedside
of the ill and dying. Each Music Practitioner is a graduate of
The Music for Healing & Transition
Program (MHTP)*, a course of study which includes medical and
musical classes provided by qualified instructors. It is an
MP's function to provide intentionally therapeutic music at the bedside
in clinical settings. A Music Practitioner is not a Music Therapist
and can not provide psychiatric care, nor do they require active participation.
The music itself is a form of passive therapy.
Services provided by a Music
Practitioner, rather than being for entertainment purposes, are meant to
nurture and support. Providing beneficial, therapeutic music can best
be accomplished on a one-on-one basis and in small group settings (i.e. 2
to 4 patients). See
Therapeutic Music
Applications vs. Performance for additional info.
A Music Practitioner may be engaged
by you to play for a friend, family member, or for yourself.
The Music Practitioner will consult
with you regarding the style of music and the instrument to be played, for
how long, and how often. The style of music usually depends on the condition
and concerns of the patient.
For some 'Frequently Asked Questions' and additional
scientific evidence of music as a healing modality, please visit the
MHTP FAQ link.
* A nonprofit educational
organization
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What is expected of the
Patient?
It is not necessary for the patient
to interact physically or even verbally with the Music Practitioner, especially
since a patient may be under medication or anesthesia. MP's can even play
during surgery. Whether or not the patient is awake and aware is simply a
factor in the style of music played. Research has shown that even comatose
patients can benefit from live music.
In short, nothing is expected of patients
except their physical presence.
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How to Contact a Music
Practitioner
Music Practitioners, who are certified
graduates of The Music for Healing &
Transition ProgramTM, work independently or affiliate with health
care institutions, private health care providers and community organizations.
Go to the CMP™
Directory for a listing
of practitioners in your area.
I am in the Upstate NY Capital District area and can be contacted
at:
Donna Adams-Profeta, CMP
Ballston Lake, NY
(518) 383-3524
email:
donnaharps@aol.com
donnaharp1@yahoo.com
NOTE: Unless you are a Yahoo!
user, please use the AOL address. If you have a Yahoo! address,
your email bounces back or you don't hear back in a timely manner, please
use the Yahoo! address.
Our apologies for any inconvenience.
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New: Memorial/Bereavement
Services
Grieving is a very private and individual process,
that we are all subject to at some point in our lives.
Upon the passing of a loved one, one of the most powerful
ways that we can express our feelings and celebrate their lives is through
music. And perhaps the most powerful instrument for fulfilling that purpose
is the graceful and uniquely suited Celtic Harp, used for centuries to help
soothe the distraught and create an environment that can both facilitate
healing and gently bid our loved ones goodbye.
Playing in these situations is a natural extension of
the therapeutic music training. Delicate and unobtrusive, yet capable of
touching us deeply, the heartfelt strains of the harp can help us to define
our own myriad emotions. Large or intimate, the harp can provide that air
of grace for bereaved families, the dearly departed and those paying their
respects.
*Donna Adams-Profeta is available for memorial services
and wakes in the NY Capital District and environs. For additional information, please see the contact information
above.
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Ongoing Employment
Donna has been providing therapeutic harp, on a
contractual basis, at the Saratoga Hospital Nursing Home, for both
residents and hospice patients, since May of 2005, averaging 3 to 4
hours per day, 3 days per month.
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My
Thoughts
The harp, perhaps more than any other instrument, lends
itself to producing musical tones that touch us and have the capacity to
enhance our own innate healing responses.
The story of David playing his harp for the ailing King
Saul is more than just a metaphor. More than two thousand years later, we
have come full circle and are once again employing that beautiful and ancient
instrument to restorative effect.
My experience playing the Celtic Harp, combined with
my love of ancient and traditional music and training as a Music Practitioner,
allows me to draw upon a tried and true repertoire, as well as utilize my
own compositions to meet the patient’s needs.
I have found joy in this ancient instrument and wish
to share it’s soothing and restorative properties with those in need
- thus creating a healing environment all their own.
-- Donna Adams-Profeta
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| .."Music is the soul's most basic form of
expression.".
- Donna Adams-Profeta |
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An Instrument for
Healing
The Kortier Wrenfaire (at right) is my most recent
acquisition and was purchased specifically for my therapeutic harp
activities. I adore it's gothic profile, renaissance-styled
stave-back soundbox, and it's a mere 15 lbs!!! Conversely, it has
ultra-modern, flourocarbon strings and sounds like a cross between a nylon-strung
and a wire-strung harp. Wire-strungs have bell-like tones, but can
be too piercing for healthcare environments and nylon-strungs are warmer.
The Wren combines the best of both. It has also become my prefered
concert & recording harp (we're getting organized to start a 2nd album).
All in all, I find it's voice to be both charming and
elegant and well suited for therapeutic applications.
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Testimonials
4/12/02
Donna, what a wonderful atmosphere you created at our Channel 13 Bloodmobile.
You took an empty storefront and made it feel like home. The
donors were very impressed by it. As they were lying on the bed very
relaxed, thery were all commenting on the surroundings. The donations
didn't hurt a bit with the soothing harp music.
Thank you once again for your help with this worthy cause.
Paula Fuda, R.N., Operation Supervisor
American Red Cross Blood Services
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11/15/02
Dear Donna,
Thank you very much for bringing
yourself and your harp to the hospital and flooding our floor with beautiful
healing music.
You lifted the spirits of the
ward as everyone who heard you happily wanted to know who you were and how
we had come to be so blessed.
Blessings to you and your
harp.
Loren Wheeler
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The Music For Healing & Transition
Program, Inc (MHTP)®
A National Educational Certification
Program for Musicians and Music Students who wish to become Music Practitioners.
For more information on The Music for Healing and Transition Program
®
and a listing of Certified Music PractitionersTM, please click on the links
throughout this page or contact the National Address:
http://www.mhtp.org
MHTP®
22 West End Road
Hillsdale, NY 12529
email:
harp@taconic.net
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A Music Sampling
You can listen
to samples from my CD,
Brynna's Aire *Plus Bonus
Cuts*, for examples from my originals repertoire. Note that a
number of the recordings have additional instrumentation that would not be
present at the bedside. The CD is
available through cdbaby and locally too...should hiring a music
practitioner not be possible (click
here for additional info).
Thanks to my husband,
John
Profeta, who plays all the background
arrangements and produced and engineered the album in his
Silver Streak
Studio. What a guy!
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Therapeutic Harp Music and Related
Links
The Music for Healing
& Transition Program
(various instruments & voice)
International
Harp Therapy Program
Bedside
Harp
The Clinical
Musicians Home Study Course
(various instruments & voice[?])
The
International Healing Musician's Program
(various instruments & voice)
Healing Harps Training Program
Dr. Ron Price, Box 157, 4302 Carol Ave., Cortland, IL 60112
email: PRICE2HHJF@aol.com
Harps and Healing Training Program
Liz Cifani, P.O. Box 6439, Evanston, IL 60204
Sound
Covenant
Chalice
of Repose Project
Music Thanatology
Association International
Vox Mundi
Project
(For voice)
Healing
Music Organization - Resources
Harp Therapy
Journal
Lakehill Productions
Promoting music for the soul and research for a cure for ovarian cancer
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Menu
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Copyright 2001-2008,
Donna L. Profeta
Created:
12/14/01
Last updated: 3/1/08
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