Alianora Reilly works at Tufts Medical Center, but her tool is no stethoscope or thermometer — instead, she wields a guitar.
Music therapy is the practice of using musical interventions to manage stress, regulate emotions and facilitate communication with patients in countless conditions. Reilly, one such music therapist, helps a range of patients at Tufts Medical heal through song.
According to Reilly, the possible applications of music therapy are numerous and diverse. One request that she often receives is for heart transplant patients.
“I’m with them in the cardiac care unit while they are waiting for their hearts, I’m with them in the ICUs after they receive their hearts and then I’m with them up on the [medical-surgical] floors where they are recovering,” Reilly said.
At each of these stages, Reilly, with the assistance of various instruments and her own voice, touches on different benefits of music therapy — from encouraging positive coping skills to enhancing relaxation post-operation to motivating movement in recovery.
Reilly is also often called to the neonatal intensive care unit, where music is used to help stabilize respiratory systems during examinations. She also helps parents learn about bonding with their infants through sound.
Music therapy interventions can utilize a variety of instruments. Reilly says she primarily uses her guitar and voice — the latter of which she describes as “the most universal instrument” — but that it really depends on the patient and desired outcome.
Reilly’s work as a music therapist focuses on patients’ behaviors, abilities and experiences to provide personalized care for all. For instance, she said she begins all of her sessions by discussing the patient’s communication skills with their nurse.
“I really don't like to use the word ‘non-verbal,’ because that’s just telling me what a patient can’t do,” said Reilly. “So I always ask, how do they communicate?”
Once a music therapist has an understanding of their patient’s abilities, Reilly says the rest of a session looks drastically different depending on the situation. Some cases, such as when patients are sedated, tend to be more like “clinical performances,” while others are much more interactive.
Working with stroke victims, for example, Reilly said she often intervenes with “musical speech stimulation,” helping patients regain their ability to speak.
“When people have strokes, they lose speech function,” said Reilly. “But when you reroute the pattern of speech through singing, it’s … located in the other hemisphere. So when you can’t speak, you can still sing. So we kind of re-teach them how to speak through singing.”
While promoting music therapy, Reilly also warns about the potential dangers of uneducated interventions. While she doesn’t want to “gatekeep” music, and understands that it can be therapeutic in many ways, she clarified that “music therapy” refers to a specific practice requiring a specialized education, the lack of which may pose serious risks.
“Music can do harm, because it is so powerful for our mental health, our physical health, for how our brain engages,” Reilly said. Such harm can occur when playing music too loudly or too close to a young patient, or when playing music that is tied to traumatic memories.
To avoid such risks, there is an intensive certification process to earn the Music Therapy Board Certification, which involves earning a music therapy degree, completing 1,040 internship hours and passing the Certification Board for Music Therapists exam.
Reilly received her music therapy degree from Berklee College of Music. She said her journey to pursuing music therapy in college first began as a result of her family’s involvement in both community service and music.
“It seemed to combine my interest in psychology, neurology and music, and helping people,” Reilly said. She has now pursued an additional credential as a neurologic music therapist, which qualifies her for interventions specifically relating to neurologic rehabilitation.
Despite extensive research proving the benefits of music therapy, Reilly said that many people still may not recognize its importance and legitimacy. Reilly is currently the only full-time music therapist at Tufts Medical, but when she first started, she was one of three.
“As an auxiliary therapy, it’s just something that’s going to be more targeted across the board,” Reilly said. “I’m not the nurse giving the life saving medication. I’m not the doctor giving the diagnosis. I provide an auxiliary healing service that is incredibly important to the overall wellbeing of the person, but they’re not going to die if I’m not there.”
Despite its “auxiliary” classification, Reilly urges people to recognize the many proven benefits and possible applications of music therapy. She hopes it continues to gain attention and grow as a profession, and gives encouragement and advice to anyone interested in pursuing it.
“Get good at being uncomfortable, sing a lot, learn as many instruments as you can, develop a lot of patience, try not to get burnt out, advocate for your own self care and believe in the healing power of music.”
