T R A N S I T I O N

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Transitions are beautiful yet they come with new challenges that are surmountable.
Last week when I wrote about sharing music with caregivers, I sort of knew deep within me that it was going to be my last time in the Paediatric ward of the hospital but didn’t know how it was going to happen.


The next time following the period that I did my last post on Caregivers (by the way if you’ve not read it, it’d be good to ‘cos it’s an enriching read).
To my story, the matron on duty gave me a warm welcome and took me to this new ward which was also Paediatric but this time for Emergency cases, there were a number of babies and as she introduced me to the nurse on duty, I was all there smiling and thinking of how to engage babies in Music but nothing was coming. In that moment, the only thing I knew to do was to jump into the waves.

I walked up to the bedside of this baby boy who was 4 months old, his mum was obviously perturbed and worse of all you could tell that having her baby in the hospital was not just her only problem, she seemed to shoulder a lot yet trying to be sane through it.
For some minutes I engaged her in a discussion, she told me of how her baby started teething, had been coughing, running temperature and hasn’t been eating. I was really emotional in this moment, I was on my feet still thinking of what to do when the nurse on duty came to tell the mother that she should get her baby milk so he could eat that was when I knew that her breasts hadn’t been bringing forth milk. I felt for her deeply, she was up and about leaving the baby and his sister with me, so I was left alone to share music with them.


Hmmmm I began singing because of course I couldn’t engage the baby, I just sang while he cried and was yet in pain.
I sang these words I shared today in my video, you can watch the video on Instagram: @escape_global.
These were the lyrics;
Peace through it all
Joy through it all
Hope through it all
You are never alone.
Peace through it all.

I sang this song repetitively for about 30 minutes or more and I couldn’t see visible improvement, maybe only the fact that it lessened his tears. I yet continued singing it over him.

I’m not one to easily give up when it comes to this but I came to a conclusion that the music I did lightened the burden that was in the atmosphere and it also made me accept the challenge of thinking unique approach to be used in administering music to babies in the hospital.

Over the next few weeks, I’d be in this ward so I’d unearth golden lessons that would be useful in Music Therapy administration with babies.

This is the #DiaryofanAspiringMusicTherapist Episode 6

I never get bored reading your feedbacks ❤️

C A R E G I V E R S

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This past week was eventful for me, it challenged my mental capacity and ability to be creative on the spot.

I was in the Paediatric ward again with my musical instruments and I met what I didn’t prepare for. I had just stepped into the ward only to find that a nurse whom I had promised to do music for some weeks back was on duty. When she spotted me, she reminded me of my promise to share the joy of music with her, this time around adding that I share with everyone in the ward, she said to me “You know they didn’t have valentine with their family”.

I thought through this and decided I was going to do it, I have been so used to bedside music that this was sort of a challenge that I needed to surmount. When administering Bedside Music I could engage a patient in a conversation while trying to figure out his or her interest or the ailment thereby creating music of hope, joy and love but this was a lot different, it meant that I had to address every parent in the ward.

For some minutes, I was just running through chords on my guitar and thinking of Music that will suite the atmosphere, how to address them and so on. I finally got my balance and stood up to address them like a Choir Director (lol), told them of the song we were going to sing and of course taught them. They learnt so fast and in few minutes, I was on my guitar accompanying the music. For me this was so beautiful because initially the ward was echoing with cries from the babies but I noticed that as we sang together there was this calm from the babies.

We were soon done with the first song, Yes you saw that right, first song! They requested for another song because they felt it really lifted their spirits, so I taught them another song and boom! they were singing it so well. I again accompanied the singing with the guitar, it was everything refreshing.

In that moment, it became more real to me that the families of patients need the therapeutic effect of Music also, many of them are walking through very depressing season watching someone dear to them fade away due to an illness, It would interest you to know that some have seen their loved ones die in the space of 1 year, few months and weeks, I mean in succession yet they still spend their earnings and income to make sure this very one’s life is battled for.

I dedicate this post to them and I hope for opportunities to bring soothing relief to what they feel via Music.

This is the #DiaryofAnAspiringMusicTherapist Episode 5.
Kindly drop your comments and feedback, I always love reading from you!

S I M P L E

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This time around they were two girls who were sisters and I can tell you they stole my heart from the very
minute I stepped to their bedside; One because they are actually beautiful and two because they had the best
smiles that was therapeutic for me. For me, there is a way smile speaks of acceptance even before saying or
doing anything.


Just before I continue with the tale of my time with these lovelies, I had earlier entered into the Paediatrics
Ward and it felt like I had become extra popular because all i was hearing was ‘Aunty Welcome’, ‘Aunty
Welldone, you are here again’. I could read the thoughts of those whose kids were newly admitted, they had
this face that said who is this lady with the guitar, what is she here to do. To further confirm that I was no
strange face in the ward, the nurse on duty who I am very familiar with was so glad to see me. I legit felt like a
regular customer but it was really heart-warming because it was beginning to make sense to them that what I
do is so needed in the healthcare.


Back to my tale, the girls were staring at me with a blush that said we are so shy to talk with this aunty but we’ll love it if she
talks with us. I took my seat and began conversing with them, the eldest amongst them was the one who was ill
and her sister had been with her to keep her company. They were my first Muslim patients so I initially cringed
because I understand their general belief system about Music.


Well this didn’t stop me; I had beautiful conversation with them about Health, life, school, Music and so on. I
listened more than I talked; we conversed as if we had known each other for long. During the course of our
conversation, I picked one thing and it’s the fact that their hearts were so simple, no airs and worries just living
life as it comes. I think the conversation changed me more because here was I worried about their would be
response to music but here they just loved it that they can converse with someone other than their family
members.


Close to the end of my session with them, these girls sang their best nursery rhymes, I learnt their native dialect, we sang together on the guitar
and it was so beautiful. This taught me two things, one you do not assume for a patient until you have made the
bold step to ask or try.

Two, prioritize care over cure when administering music to patients, sometimes we are
so concerned about the outcome than what happens in the process. It is not always about fixing the problem
and seeing a desired outcome, it is sometimes about bonding, the memory that lingers via conversation.
Remember, this is a compendium of lessons learnt, miracles of music in the hospital as an Aspiring Music
Therapist.


This is the #DiaryofAnAspiringMusicTherapist Episode 4.
Kindly drop your comments and feedback, I always love reading from you!❤️

N O T A G A I N!

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Not again was what I’d have said if I could express my heart to the patient.
You remember a patient of mine that I shared with you about that was so timid and suffered a fractured arm. She was the one again this time, the doctors had complained about her not refusing to take a step towards moving her arm, they had cajoled and finally resolved that an Occupational Therapist was the one to come to the rescue.

I met her gloomy and struck a conversation with her, of course she was familiar with my face. Her brother said he had been doing his best to persuade her towards moving her hands a bit. At this point, all my I was thinking were creative ways to make her move her arm.

Boom! An idea came, I brought out my children’s drum and I said to her you are simply going to sing and move your hands to the rhythm of this drum. Of course she was really scared, it sounded crazy but I encouraged her saying she could support the arm with her right arm and slowly move it.

The exact drum I used

My people we began this journey, I playing the drum and singing;

He has done great things,

He has done great things

Bless His holy name.


While we did this, I noticed she was still focused on the pain,so I said to her I want you to sing and forget that you are moving your arm. She took that and gradually she was courageously moving her arm with ease, we did a number of exercises with her arm and I quickly picked that we had been able to conquer the fear of feeling pain.

We moved on and she requested that she wanted to play the guitar, here is someone who had earlier on been scared of even moving hands saying she wanted to hold the guitar and try something out. I consented and she did try to play something, in that moment I said to myself sometimes all you’ve got to do is sing healing over yourself.

The guitar moved back to my hand and I sang to her a spontaneous song filled with much hope.
She was the only patient I attended to, I decided I was going to take extra extra time with her and in the end I wasn’t wishing it was someone else I had administered music to.
I was glad she was the one!
It was such a fulfilling moment for me when the nurse told me she enjoyed the session I had with the girl and would love that next time she’d be a full recipient of it.

This is the #DiaryofAnAspiringMusicTherapist Episode 3

Please feel free to drop your questions and feedback. It’s always beautiful reading from you!

N U M B

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Ujunwa is the name I will like to give her, I walked in to see her and realized that the ward was a little crowded. The smile of the nurse on duty was heart-warming and welcoming that it made me extra joyful that I had come again to the hospital.

Uju was totally numb emotionally when I got to her bedside even though she was actively using her mum’s phone, I could tell that she cared less about anyone and she was the last child from what I could infer. She was obviously a well-pampered child in her pre-teen.

Having observed Uju’s personality, I helped myself by starting a conversation with her mum and she told me about the circumstances around her daughter’s birth. For me it was an interesting one and helped me calm a bit before administering music to her daughter.

The conversation switched and I was conversing with Ujunwa, she was really open as she told me in details of the ailment that brought her to the hospital. About a week ago, she experienced a very sharp pain at her abdomen, she was told it was appendicitis and needed to be operated on. The operation was carried out, she felt better but still felt pain a bit.

I asked a number of questions about her school and she was still very open with me. I decided it was time to engage her musically and like I try to do with my patients, I always love to have a feel of their musicality so I ask questions like “are you in your school choir?”, “What’s your best song?”, “Do you play any musical instrument?” and so on.

I found out from our conversation that she didn’t really have a musical sense but she tried to sing a song on her dream, trust me I joined in singing. When she was done, I did a very simple and spontaneous song. These were the lyrics;

God’s plans for you,

They are beautiful

and are good!

When we sang this together, we switched and translated the lyrics in Igbo and sang it together. It was such a beautiful time as she loosened up totally. Her smile was bright and she wasn’t the emotionally numb person I met at first. Her mum said to me when I was about leaving “Thank you for putting smiles on our children’s faces”. These words were honestly priceless, I realized again that the little things matter and people aren’t seeking for things that complicate matters.

At the Hospital last week

There are myriads of cases like this that I see in the hospital and many a times I truly wish I could share all ranging from the child who steals your heart with endless smiles at the sight of your musical instrument to the one who doesn’t want you in her space but suddenly opens up to the eyes that are obviously scared of what tomorrow holds for them to those who are evidently drained of cash to the depressed to those who grieve yet try to put up a facade. In all of these I have learnt and I am still learning not to put up a pity face or organize another pity party that they already dread, I realize always that it’s the little things that matters, they all just want an adrenaline push in their emotions, they don’t want to hear the next discovery in their bodies, they want the simple things of life.

This is the #DIARYOFANASPIRINGMUSICTHERAPIST Episode 2

Kindly drop your questions and feedback. It is always a Joy reading from You!

C O N F I D E N T

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You know when they say you never understand the value of what you have or what you do until you are in the very place it is needed.

The Hospital is one of the places I enjoy being and this past week I had the privilege of meeting patients again. I entered the hospital in a very nervous state because it was my first time of doing music fully this year in the actual hospital. I like always wondered if this would make sense to the patients, if I won’t get that look of ‘You are wasting your time’. Well I was right, I had those stares of what are you coming to do with musical instruments but it really didn’t matter ‘cos I was prepared for it.

This was me at the Hospital last week

I walked into the Paediatric ward of the Hospital, I scanned through the ward and saw two patients, two parents and a hospital nurse, then there was this joy and nervousness that welled up in my heart immediately I saw them because I knew I would spend quality time with them and have effective results.

My music administration started with a girl in Junior Secondary School who had an accident that almost cost her an arm. From first contact I could tell she was timid, had successfully walked transited the pain of being in the hospital and had found such contentment in solitude since the ward was almost empty.

In my conversation with her, I found out she had been in the condition since the previous festive season, she had missed classes and bills were constantly pumped in just to see that she gets well.

I figured out also that her confidence had been crushed even though she tried to hide it with an innocent smile on her face, so I said to her “Do you know you are beautiful?” and I got that smile again, this time nodding as though she wasn’t sure of it. So I said You sound like you have a good singing voice, are you in your school choir? She replied Yes and I asked her to sing me a song and there we were singing together, this made her loosen up a bit to get her groove after a long while of solitude and what I call loneliness.

We moved and I said “What Kind of musical instrument do you like?” She said “I like this one with you” (referring to my guitar), she added that she’d love if I give it to her. Fam I made her a promise to get her one. Smiles!

Now I knew the atmosphere had lightened up and it was time to do music that restores confidence, so I picked up my guitar and as you might know I love spontaneous songs. I had these short three-line lyrics;

You are beautiful,

You are Special!

You are Light!

That was it fam, the effect of this music on her was palpable that the parent of the next patient had to do a video recording of the session, he asked me to do it again and this time around I was intentional about this girl of mine singing it, this girl was so confident that we went on to exchange contacts. One minute the air was gloomy and she was timid, the next minute she had brightened up and was extra confident.

Fulfillment is an understatement for what I felt, I live for these moments and I love that I live for these moments!

This is the #DIARYOFANASPIRINGMUSICTHERAPIST Episode 1

Kindly drop your questions and feedback. It is always a Joy reading from You!

Amazing News!

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I think Amazing is my best word, I use it always and I enjoy using it. Anyway that is not even the gist! I’m so excited it’s a new year and a new decade at that. I have honestly looked forward to this year for a very long time and I am excited that we get to see it together.

I ended 2019 with reading a book by an all time favourite Music Therapist, Dr Deforia Lane and it has spurred me like never before to take conscious leaps in the field of Music Therapy.

This year I am committing myself to sharing my journey in the hospital with you as an Aspiring Music Therapist, it is tagged #TheDiaryofAnAspiringMusicTherapist.

Every moment in the hospital ward is filled with stories of pain, hope, much thinking and joy to patients and families of patients at the sound of music. You don’t want to miss these stories.

For every moment I get to administer music as a form of therapy to Patients in the hospital, I promise to share with you which is inclusive of the ugly moments too.

This year I joined the Arts in Medicine Fellowship which is targeted at encouraging the use of arts in Healthcare, I love this fellowship because I am constantly inspired to be better!

Every moment on this journey is a Miracle.

I can tell this is going to be fun already!

Happy New Decade! I love reading from You.

3 Things I have gained from being a part of PATIENTS DAY

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This post is dedicated to Adullam Vision Initiative’s project tagged PATIENTS’ DAY and just in case you do not know what it is all about, here it is; Patients Day is a special day in the Nigerian calendar set aside to foster the love, care and commitment of the nation to the mental and emotional wellbeing of patients in Hospitals, Internally Displaced People camps, orphanage homes with the aim of seeing them recuperate.

Music is an integral part of this which has made me actively involved for the past 2 years and in each year I have gained what I could term as lessons that has added value to me.
In today’s post, I will like to streamline what I have gained from being part of this event to 3.

Two years ago when I joined in this movement, I was a very timid fellow even though on the outside I looked like someone who was never shy. Being timid was quite challenging for me because it meant I had to go from ward to ward singing to patients in the hospital. I thought to myself what would be the reaction of Health Personnels and patients in the Hospital. Alas! While we went about doing this, It turned out that a lot of persons were encouraged and I had built confidence.
Last year, I didn’t have trouble singing to patients despite the fact that the location I was in was the North Eastern part of Nigeria where music is not regarded. I have built CONFIDENCE!

This picture was taken in Obafemi Awolowo University Teaching Hospital. Ile-Ife, Osun State. Nigeria and it was my first time of being part of the event in 2017

Another thing I have gained is being able to sing spontaneously without any prior thinking of the lyrics. I think of a line in my head and I’m adding melody to it on the spot and they are songs that stick easily, patients remember easily and sing along with confidence and hope for the future. I have improved musically especially with spontaneous songs.

This was the team that performed in the same hospital in 2018 and it was massive! I was in the North-Eastern part of Nigeria doing same and it was mind-blowing!

I have become more COMPASSIONATE! I used to be someone who was hardly moved by issues that people go through in the hospital and I knew it wasn’t going to be good because one important thing about doing music is that you must connect with people deeply and it can’t be faked because people always know.

Being able to do music at PATIENTS’ DAY every year is always a privilege for me and I’d do it again and again because it keeps adding value to me.

This year’s edition will hold on the 7th of December 2019 by 9am at the following locations;
Obafemi Awolowo University Teaching Hospital. Ile-Ife, Osun State. Nigeria
Seventh Day Adventist Hospital. Ile-Ife, Osun State. Nigeria
Lagos State University Teaching Hospital, Lagos State. Nigeria.

You can also visit the social media handles of Adullam Vision Initiative to see how previous PATIENTS’ DAY have been.
Facebook: Adullam Vision Initiative
Instagram: @adullamvision

It’d be so good to have you around!

Let me know what you think about this post.
I love reading from you!

Lots of Love!

How Music Therapy helps persons who are traumatized

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In this post, i’d be using the term “persons” more than “patients” because I know that a lot persons who are traumatized have in one way or the other convinced themselves that there isn’t any need to see for a form of therapy as Music. You get words like “I’ll handle it” or “I’ll be fine” yet there are still lingering memories in their minds. I’ll begin with a story of what happened a long time ago.

After the Second World War, soldiers returned with head wounds and traumatic brain injuries or call it battle fatigue or shell shock as it was called during the First World War which is now called Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).

With many of these soldiers, it was discovered that the pain and misery they experienced could only be helped by music. Medical practitioners in many veteran hospitals made it a call of duty to invite musicians to come and play for these soldiers who were patients, musicians were so excited to bring music to these broken, distressed and wounded people.

It was said of a lady by the name Kitty who had an immense intuitive gift that endeared her to the patients however terrible the issue was. Working with this individual patients called for empathy and personal interaction as much as any formal therapy and Kitty was very skilled at this, she was also an audacious improviser and was very playful both on the keyboard and in life; She helped a lot of person through this art accept what had happened and look to the future with renewed hope.

The recovery process of a person or a patient who is a victim of a traumatic experience is painful and takes time, some persons carry the memories of it for the rest of their lives. Trauma can come in form of rape, war, seeing a loved one die and lots more. Memories can be hard to go off a person’s mind, there is always a replay of the fear or the pain.

However, Music Therapy plays a major role in seeing that persons who are experiencing trauma, accept whatever happened, express emotions, enhance security and most importantly gain self confidence.

Music Therapy reduces stress and anxiety that must have been caused by the event. It brings about positive change in mood. It also brings about positive and active participation during the cause of treatment. It increases or enhances the level of a person’s control, confidence and empowerment. Physiologically it lowers blood pressure, reduces heart rate and relaxes the tension in muscles.

Music Therapy gives traumatized persons the permission to feel while healing takes place so a person begins to let out.

Below is a video that gives a practical side to what this post is all about

It’s always a joy reading from you!

VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IWQnTUunhuY

The Music Miracle: General or Specific Music?

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More often I get the question “What Kind of Music is administered to Patients in the Hospital?” This question comes especially from people who have difficulty believing that Music can restore a person back to his or her original state and even much better.

I have personally worked with patients who were choosy in the kind of music that should be administered to them, this happened in my days as an undergraduate of Music while writing my final year project.

One of the patients who I tried administering Music to as a form of Therapy was an Igbo girl who suffered Isolation and made it a habit to always talk to herself, she had poor relational skills, she also had tendency of moping.

As always I was seated a particular office in the Hospital, while waiting for an outpatient who would be kind enough to allow me carry out the practical side of my project.

This particular girl walked in at this time and in my excited state I welcomed her into the clinic. I conversed with her mother present in the office and she obliged to my offer, I got to know the genesis of the ailment and the length of time she had been battling with this.

From conversation I noticed this girl was so in love with Igbo Music that was Christian and so I sang quite a number of it with her, she sang a number that I myself did not know which made it more interesting as I did my best to catch up with the song lyrics.

I tried singing the songs and styles she wasn’t familiar with and in a space of seconds I could literally pick the turn off, her focus was off what I was singing. I tried again and again but I lost her attention because I wasn’t singing what she was familiar with.

I came to a conclusion, that the uniqueness of every human being is so important so is also what we love, she was able to flow because I sang songs that took her to the core of her real self, where she is from and who she is.

I learnt from this experience that it is expedient to know who a patient is by connecting deeply with them and not to be in a hurry to sing what I know off my heart.

I also learnt that It is important that we understand that a person or rather a patient is influenced by either the music of culture or environment or personal interest. They are likely to respond to one of these in ways that will blow your mind. One of the things that happen in Music Therapy is that Music is never forced on anyone, there is a freedom of choice because we must achieve the goal of connection and ultimately, wellness.

Can they sing other styles aside the ones they enjoy? Yes very well but it might take time based on patients personality to bring them to that point. It is usually a gradual process and as I always love to let lots of persons know, the administration of Music Therapy has a procedure but then it is so dynamic in nature. You might sometimes have to bend to make the patient satisfied.

I hope you learnt one or two things from my experience with my Igbo Patient as an undergraduate.

Let me know what you think in the comment section.

I love reading from you!

Lots of Love!