The article “She Looks so Beautiful” by describes a music therapy session with a psychiatric client named Angelica, who has taken out her frustration and pain on her body to an extent where she is bandaged and swollen. Angelica is thirty-four years old and lives in the Residential Home for the Profoundly Intellectually and physically disabled. The author, Karen de Kock, is a music therapist who is working with the client and from the very beginning Angelica caught her attention.
According to Karen de Kock, the music therapy session was very difficult and exhausting. She even felt sometimes that she was not making a difference. “They seemed more relaxed after each session which made the session not feel like a total waste of time. This did not make me feel any better though, as I felt I was not yet able to reach and mean something to Angelica.” In my clinical work, I am always trying to answer the question, “am I making a difference?” As a music therapy student at the University of Louisville, I am always wondering and answering this question to myself and I strive to make a difference and help a client in any way possible; sometimes the difference is hard to see but the difference and change is there. For example, in my clinical work this semester, the client is non-responsive some days and as soon as I start singing the hello song with her, the expression on her face changes dramatically from somber to energetic, attentive, and happy.
My favorite part of the article was when the author describes the very last session with Angelica, who was bandaged from head to toe. Karen began the session by dimming down the lights and motioned to the caretaker to play the bongo drums while she hummed and played the guitar. Without looking for cues, the music therapist and care taker tuned into Angelica’s crying and agitation and the music became louder when Angelica’s crying became more intense. Suddenly, once the music reached a climatic bursting point and the crying was so intense, the crying suddenly stopped and became very still. The care taker, softly said, “She looks so Beautiful!” Karen looked at Angelica and her eyes were “open and intensely blue. Her expression had a softness and gentleness which was far removed from the pain she exhibited before.” This music therapy session shows the power of music and the ability to exceed out physical reality.
Through the power of music, Angelica came into the session very agitated and left the session in a calm state. From reading this article, it reinforces my belief that music therapy can make a difference in a client’s life even if it appears to be a small difference. Even though I have not had much clinical experience in a psychiatric setting, I find this population very intriguing. I would hope to one day have experience with this population because from reading this article, it definitely supports the fact that music therapy DOES make a difference.