Working with cancer patients in oncology and palliative care brings us closer to the precious and fragile nature of life on a daily basis. Given the immediate impact of receiving a diagnosis of cancer or terminal illness, a persons’ life span suddenly becomes tangible and there are so many things that one would like to accomplish. Since I started as a music therapist in the hospital setting, I have met patients, families and caregivers whom have deeply touched me by their way of living life fully. The life lessons are numerous, coming from young to older patients; they teach us to challenge ourselves and to appreciate every moment we are granted.
I am always impressed by the fact that every time I enter a patient’s room, I enter that person’s life. I know some of their medical and family histories but what I don’t know is their personal history, life, jobs, passions, people who surrounded them, etc. Through music, I am able to enter into their world and memories. At first contact, I am interested by their “sonorous” expressions resonated through their words, gestures, music, consonances and dissonances.
The next step is a creative process that will guide my musical response to the patient. Our relationship establishes itself from intuitions that are grounded into music therapy approaches characterized by compassion and the recognition of the other in her/his resonance. First the Field of Play, a theory elaborated by Carolyn Kenny (1989) allows us to approach the patient regardless of their age, with a fluid and unconditional manner. The patient is welcomed naturally without judgement. The primary fields create necessary conditions for patients to freely express what inhabits them: the musical space created between the therapist, patients and their love ones offers intemporal moments to live music in its purest essence; the aesthetic which emerges from the musical encounter is the patients’ expression of their own beauty, often time impressive in a context of illness; and the field of play represents for me the sonorous dynamic that interplays between the therapists, patients, surroundings and even the caregivers where music links us without ever abandoning us.
The basic principles of Bonny Method of Guided Imagery and Music also apply in oncology/palliative care to offer diverse perspectives to the patient on how they live the present moment. We can choose music that is empathic and supportive through melody, rhythm, style, nuances, form etc. The method is adapted to the hospital context because of the short term stay. Inductive principles are dosed in music intensity and duration according to patients’ psychological and physical levels of energy. Thus patients can resource themselves at their own rhythm and capacities.
The third approach that guides my work in oncology/palliative care in a hospital setting comes from Susan Munro’s (1984) book, Music Therapy in Palliative Care. She worked in the Montreal Royal Victoria Hospital and was the first one who introduced me to palliative care. She has taught me respect for patients, attentive listening and simplicity in the relationship without forcing anything. I go back to her teachings to this day.
I am fortunate to have the opportunity to live intense moments in my work, which makes me even more grateful to those women music therapist pioneers from whom I have derived inspiration, such as Kenny, Bonny and Munro. In addition, our patients are our greatest masters; they teach us our work if we are well attentive. They help us to measure what place we should occupy in their universe. They give us the permission to be at their sides. Therefore we serve them in the real sense of the term.
Bonny, H. L. (2002). Music & Consciousness: The Evolution of Guided Imagery and Music. (Edited by Lisa Summer). Gilsum, NH: Barcelona Publishers.
Kenny, C. (1989). The field of play: A guide for the theory and practice of music therapy. Atascadero, CA: Ridgeview Publishing Co.
Munro, S. (1984). Music Therapy in Palliative/Hospice Care. St-Louis : Magna Music Baton.
Vaillancourt (2008). Homage: Working in Oncology/Palliative Care. Voices Resources. Retrieved January 15, 2015, from http://testvoices.uib.no/community/?q=colvaillancourt040808