Tanya's Reflections on Music Therapy at St. Jude's Child Care Centre

Tanya Silveira, a Masters student of Music Therapy from the University of Melbourne, recently interned with Mewsic to help design a new program, Music Therapy in Hospitals, which will soon be launched at St. Jude's Childcare Centres in Mumbai. Today, Tanya shares her reflections on the experience with using music as a tool to help cancer affected children.

  

Since I was about 15 years old, the idea of using music as a tool to help people has really fascinated me. About 6 months ago, I started looking into different Music Therapy techniques and practises across the World. I soon stumbled upon Mewsic - a Brett Lee Foundation, and started sending through some emails, asking if I could potentially volunteer. Because I am originally from India, Mewsic seemed like the perfect foundation to combine both my culture and my passion for Music Therapy.

As this was not my first visit to Mumbai, it felt like home from the moment I landed. The only thing that I was nervous about was the fact that I was still a student rather than an expert. My first day at Mewsic was fantastic – everyone was so welcoming and as excited as I was. I loved the communal aspect of the office environment as well as the warmth of each of my colleagues from day one.

My contribution to Mewsic was to assist with the development of an exciting new program 'Music Therapy in Hospitals'. Each week, I spent time working with the team to devise an Operations Manual about the program to come, devising meaningful tools of assessment as well as devising a schedule for Music Therapy sessions. Along with this, I would spend 3 half-days (per week) at St. Jude’s Child Care Centre conducting both group and individual Music Therapy sessions with the children. Children were based at this centre as a result of their diagnoses of cancer – This centre accommodated children (and their parents) while they were undergoing various treatments at the nearby hospitals. Using music, our sessions were centred on distraction from pain, nausea and anxiety, promotion of emotional expression, regaining of physical strength and expansion of the English vocabulary. Using instrument playing, drumming, song writing and singing, I was able to engage the children through music in order to achieve these goals as much as possible. 

Before I left for this experience, a close friend of mine had thought that the nature of this work would cause me to grow as a person – Looking back, I can’t believe how right she was. This opportunity has really shaped me. I have gained a greater sense of confidence in myself and in my ability. I have learnt to value my cultural heritage to an even greater extent. And I have realised just how powerful Music Therapy is to the physical and psychological states of these beautiful children. Even though time spent with the children at St. Jude's stirred up some strong emotions at times, these children showed me that there is more to life than worrying about the days to come – they made me realise that even though they have this life-threatening diagnosis, at the end of the day, they are still children and do things that all children do – whether it be trying to take my guitar, giving me big hugs and lots of kisses or even just laughing at my “funny” Australian accent!

I’m grateful for this experience with Mewsic and have returned even more excited to graduate from my Masters so that I can go back to Mumbai to work for a longer period of time.