The music therapy sessions at Easterseals Northeast Indiana in Columbia City and Angola every Tuesday are designed to strengthen the communication and social skills of people who attend. But the participants in these sessions might not notice the lessons they’re learning, because they’re so busy having fun.
Spend a little time with music therapists Elena Bir or Trevor Perkins at work, and you’ll see people dance; call out song requests; lean into every song with drums, maracas, tambourines or tiny egg shakers; laugh; and smile for minutes on end.
Bir, who conducts music therapy in Columbia City, and Perkins, who does the same in Angola, both begin their sessions with a “Hello” song, leading the group in greeting each person in song. They both close each session with a “Goodbye” song.
Between “Hello” and “Goodbye,” each therapist has a framework in mind for the session, but its texture and details are shaped by the people who attend, their enthusiasm and the musical knowledge they bring to therapy.
“I focus on socialization, participation and getting our blood flowing,” Bir said.
In a recent activity, participants passed around a tambourine as they listened to music played on a portable stereo. When Bir stopped the music, the person holding the tambourine had to say something nice about someone else in the group.
When the music stopped, Laura was holding the tambourine, and Bir prompted her to say something nice about Vince, who spoke very little.
“He’s sweet and charming!” Laura said.
On a roll with compliments, Laura added, “I’m nice!”
“It’s good to compliment yourself sometimes,” Bir told her.
Like Bir, Perkins plays songs on his guitar. If he doesn’t know how to play the songs, he plays them on his iPad. “There are lots of ways to make and enjoy music,” he told the people requesting songs.
Midmorning, he announced he was going to perform “Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star.”
Tracey objected strongly. “That’s for little kids!” she said.
Perkins said, “We’re going to make it for adults, because we’re going to make it groovy.”
Sure enough, Perkins played and sang it slowly, uncovering a kind of soulfulness.
Perkins, like Bir, is an independent contractor with New Wave Wellness, which provides behavior management, music therapy and recreational therapy. Stacey Duell, vice president of community supports for Easterseals Northeast Indiana, knows one of the owners of New Wave Wellness and asked whether they could provide group music therapy.
The program has become very popular with Easterseals participants. Even people who didn’t sing and dance were often engaged in their own ways. In one of Perkins’ sessions at Angola, Wanda was mostly quiet, except for the many times she called out, “I want to do this class next time!”
Perkins assured her she would be included.
Perkins’ music therapy session culminated in a music quiz. He divided the participants into two teams. Perkins knows everyone there well enough that he made sure each team had one of the two men with the most musical knowledge.
When Perkins played a song, teams got points for naming the title of the song, the performer associated with it and the decade when it was released.
The prize? “If your team wins, you get to pick the last song,” Trevor told Jimmy, a devoted fan of Elvis Presley.
Team members seemed to thrive on the rivalry, whispering with one another as they discussed their answers identifying the songs.
Jimmy’s team won. Perkins gave Jimmy his choice of the last song, and Jimmy chose “Jailhouse Rock.” As Perkins played the song, Jimmy danced and strummed an air guitar.
Before that final game even began, Jimmy’s teammate Bob called it. “This guy right here, he’s an Elvis fan,” Bob said, pointing to Jimmy.
The music therapy in Columbia City and Angola is funded through a Vantage grant from the AWS Foundation. Duell said Easterseals has applied for other funding to provide music therapy in Fort Wayne, too.