Articles and clippings

Vol.

6 ,

No , 3

The Lively ··Arts

of Healing

A.

IC!\ MOFFIT l"SED TO S" G 0~ BROADWAY. She was understudy for the stars in "Guys and Dolls," "Ca n Can," a nd "South Pacific." She played leading roles in the road shows. That was 25 years ago, before she had a nervous breakdown and had to be hospita li1ed .

" It's hard to imagine that I ever sang, Tm gonna wash that ma n right o utta my hair.' on stage before huge audiences." she says, pointing to her shoulder-length auburn hair that she now pulls into a po ny tail to camouflage the oily effects of medication. " I was a blond in those days, with a beautiful figure and a marvelous future. I had confidence and ambi-tion. And then I broke."

Her breakdown led to a lengthy hospitalintion and isola-tion from the old life. When she returned to the big city, it was no longer her Big Apple. There were some nightclub offers at first, and she traveled for opportunities in other cities. but Alicia had lost her voice and her verve. There were other breaks with reality. other hospitalizations, and then withdrawal into a single room with solitude, loneliness. and fragmented memories.

r-.:ow in her fifties, she is beginning to sing again. Not for the stage. but for herself, and for a small group of therapists and patients at Creative Arts Rehabilitation Center in New York City's theater district, just around the corner from theaters where Alicia used to play to huge audiences. She was referred to the center by her psychotherapist at the out-pa tient clinic of a local hospital.

Creative Arts Rehabilitation Center is a unique experi-ment in community experi-mental health. A private, nonprofit or-ganization. it offers music. art. poetry, dance. and drama as a supplement to psychotherapy. Alicia takes singing lessons there. Others at the center (nearly all have been hospitalized for mental illness) study musical instruments, write poetry, or dance out their emotions with leaps, turns, or disco dance gyrations.

"We do not do traditional therapy nor are we training our patienb to be professional actors and artisb," says Florence Tyson. director and founder of the center. "The center offers a program which supplements psychotherapy and provides

4 1, ',()VAflo,s WI', Tl·R 1979

Winter 1979

n

1980

patients with tools from the creative arts that promote emo-tiona l a nd socia l growth."

The program is provided by a staff of four full-time a nd 16

part-time thera pists, all of whom have had supervised train-ing a nd professional experience in neuropsychiatric hospi-tals, clinics, and rehabilitative facilities. All supervisory staff are registered with their national professional organizations: the National Association of Music Therapy, the American Dance T herapy Association, and the American Art Therapy Association.

Over 120 psychiatric clinics. hospitals, and rehabilitative agencies, as well as private psychiatrists, refer patients to the center as an adjunct to their continuing psychotherapy. In

1978, the center served a caseload of 81 patients.

"The center," says Tyson, "reflects a growing collabora-tion among varied mental health facilities in the community. and is part of an ever-growing number of new services and agencies designed to help meet the outpatient's rehabilita-tive needs."

It grew out of a pilot project begun in 1958 by the Musi-cians Emergency Fund, a service organization which began during the Depression to provide employment to musicians. In the early '50 , the Fund sent musicians into mental hospi-tals to work with patients there. Later. the musicians wanted to find out if a mu ic therapy resource for psychiatric outpa-tients would be helpful in meeting rehabilitation needs, says Tyson. "We discovered that we had a service people wanted." Outpatients with an interest in music were able to build up their confidence by studying something they already loved in our Music Rehabilitation Center, she says. " In the difficult post-hospital phase. many patients suffered the lack of sus-tained. supporting relationships and opportunities for ego-strengthening that we provided them through the study of music."

When the initial funding ran out. Tyson and others kept the center alive independently on a shoestring budget, mov-ing from one low-rent location to another until they occu-pied their present quarters, west of Broadway next to a re~-taurant and bar called the Sound of" Music.

Creative Arts Rehabilitation Center was incorporated as a nonprofit organization for all arts therapies in 1963. "Al-though most of our patients start with music therapy, we dis-covered that many of them wanted to explore the other arts too," says Tyson.

"For many of our patients, the nature of their inner con-flicts makes it extremely difficult for them to communicate

on a verbal level." she explains. "They begin to open up through non-verbal. non-threatening forms of artistic com-munication such as music. dance. and art. and this openness spills over into their psychotherapy."

HEALING THE SPIRIT

T

HE HEALI:--:G PROPERTIES OF THE LIVELY ARTS have been known since ancient times. David soothed the soul of Saul by playing melodies on a harp: Aristotle talked of the cathartic nature of drama. Mental hospitals have often had workshops for painting and pottery as recreational or occupational therapy.

However, arts therapies as an outpatient therapeutic tool to help a patient communicate better is a relatively new idea. and has taken on greater significance as patients who suffer from mental illness are, with the help of psychotropic drugs, increasingly able to live in the community.

Some of the patients who come to the center have studied music, art, or dance before their illness. But only an interest in one of the arts - not previous experience or training - is required. The philosophy of the center is to help patients understand and express themselves better.

Tyson, a music therapist registered with the National As-sociation for Music Therapy. mixes talk with music as she works with a patient climbing scales and climbing the wall. "Some music therapists are not permitted by their institu-tions to talk at all with their patients and their patients have been known to joke that they have to sing 'I want to go to the bathroom' in the key of

C."

she says. "But that's not true of our center therapists. We communicate in whatever way seems appropriate at the moment."

One of her patients. a handsome blond woman who had a nervous breakdown just as she began to audition for profes-sional operatic roles. tells how Florence helped her to get her rage out of her singing and into her therapy where she could identify it.

"She helped me emotionally and with my talent," she says. "My only affect in singing was rage. It gave my voice strength but no subtlety. Florence got me to articula,e my rage outside of song, and suddenly I discovered other modulations in my voice, including voluptuousness and vulnerability. She made me act out my sexuality once by encouraging me to walk like a cat on all fours. She had me sing aggressively and with ten-derness. She freed me to the point where I could audition for professsional roles and get hired."

The center encourages patients with extraordinary tal-ent to pursue careers and to work through creative "blocks." but for most of the patients there, therapists are concerned only with building up confidence and offering emotional support.

Charles Kingsford, a registered music therapist at the center and a published composer who has written songs for Marion Anderson and Gladys Swarthout. is at case teaching patients the simple melody of "Hot Cross Buns."

"Everyone comes to music with a wealth of sound," he says. "Our patients have heard music all their lives, and yet

-many of them think t c no ear at all. 1 will ask them

to listen to me sing 'H s Buns.' Then I will whisper the

words and ask them 1f an still he.tr the melody. Some

do but are too 11m1d to a t

11.

Eventually almost everyone here works up to singing that simple melody by themseh-es When people with severely damaged egos succeed in singing even a simple tune in key, they feel a tremendous boost.''

Many of the patients at the center, he says. have suffered insecurities fostered by intimidating parents and institutions, and are afraid of rigid structures. "Here we welcome mistakes as stepping stones to success." says Kingsford. "1\11 kinds of illnesses involve a psychological blow. Music helps to repair the damage."

Kingsford teaches professionals as well as patients.

Cer-tain techniques apply to both. he says. "I encourage my stu-dents to listen to themselves as though they are someone ebe.

If you're going to step out on the stage of Carnegie Hall you want to be able to listen to yourself and be yourself."

The same thing is true of patients. but they are learning to listen to themselves and to be themsel\es with others in daily activities, not at Carnegie Hall.

When he asked one withdrawn schi,ophrenic patient to sing "Hot Cross Buns.'' she opened her mouth. but nothing came out. It took several sessions to get her simply to sing along with him. A year later. at a ;\;ew Year's party. she was leading "Auld Lang Syne" and harmoni,ing in a group.

Kathy was a talented pianist whose sense of unworthiness and futility overwhelmed everything she did. When she was able. with the help of music therapist Tyson. to bang some of her hurt and anger out on the piano. therapy at the center began.

"l was frightened I was going 10 kill someone." she said.

Tyson said. "Kill on the piano." So she began lO pound until

she feared she would break the piano. Cruel. dissonant sounds emerged from the keyboard. sounds of Kathy's rage against music, her mother. and the world around her. For weeks Kathy pounded on the piano with Tyson at her side. Was it the piano or the fact that Tyson stayed at her side that helped Kathy through her crisis? "Probably both.'' says Tyson. "Kathy had never known and could not permit physi-cal closeness or affectionate intimacy. In those sessions.

IO\-ing and tender feelIO\-ings grew toward me. the first she had e\er experienced. Then she began to open up about her life."

Kathy told Tyson how her mother used to beat her when she didn't practice the piano. "She threatened me and said if I didn't practice she'd kill me," she said. "For years I ne\er played the piano when I was alone because I was afraid. 1 felt as if someone was going to hit me."

As a result of her music therapy. Kathy began to play the piano again. even when she was alone.

She also began to talk to people at the center. She recalb that as a child she wanted to cut her tongue out in order not to talk. She would tie a scarf around her mouth to J-.eep the sounds in.

"l thought if I didn't talk I wouldn't feel an) angerorpa1n.'' sh~ says. At the center she began to tall-. about her anger and pain.

,

.,

The Creative Arts Rehabilitation Center is at hame in the heart of the theater district.

DANCE TO SELF-DISCOVERY

F

OR CHRYSSA, a 30-year-old woman who was referred

to the center when she was suffering from symp-toms of severe withdrawal and deep insecurity, dance therapy became a route to self-discovery. She is the subject of a center movie called "Moving True," (see Box about films), a training film the center staff made about her dance therapy.

"In dance therapy I can be what I really am and not be afraid," says Chryssa.

Chryssa's mother died when she was seven, and most of her life after that was spent in foster homes and hospitals. Over the years her body had taken on physical forms of her split reality. Her right side was her strong side, reaching up to her mother in heaven who "kept me standing tall," she says. "It was my growing adult side, sturdy, competent and self-contained."

Her left side, by comparison, felt shriveled and closed, and she frequently drooped as she walked, like a little old lady. "It was," she now says, "a physical representation of the depen-dent child my mother left behind."

In dance therapy Chryssa'semotional life was dramatically exhibited by leaps of strength, followed by closed patterns in which her body clung to the floor. Sometimes Chryssa would sit on the floor, rolling from right to left as though she sought a hard-earned balance. At other times she would cradle her right leg in her arms and rock it back and forth like a baby.

6 IVsOVATIOSS WISTER 1979

"Her distorted body image," says Tyson, "reflected an in-tense inner struggle to achieve a mature sense of identity."

Although dance therapy is usually conducted in groups, Anne Olin, dance therapist at the center when Chryssa was first referred there, says, "Chryssa needed individual atten-tion. She needed the protection and safety of a one-to-one relationship in order to freely let go, to express herself fully without the fear of doing harm to herself or others."

It took many sessions for Chryssa to develop a relation-ship with Olin, but when she did, it was built on security and trust. The dance therapist would often offer Cqryssa mirror images of her movement so that she was able to identify and understand feelings that she could not see in herself. Later, Chryssa would describe her feelings to Olin and eventually talk about the war she felt inside her body. Finally she was able to articulate her sense of her mother inside her and ex-press her mother's physical representation in her movement.

Chryssa also participated in art and music therapy at the center. Eventually, she went back to school and obtained a master's degree in special education of emotionally disturbed children. Now she uses some of the techniques she studied at the center with her students, all abused, abandoned or dis-placed children. Chryssa continues to have bouts with mental illness and periodically returns to the hospital, but the center remains her center, where she can come to dance, paint, and sing about some of her struggles.

FEELING THROUGH POETRY

Pi

GER AND PAIN AS WELL AS JOY AND BEAUTY are the recurring themes in many poems and pictures at the center. Once a week, Ralph Robertson, pro-gram director of the center, runs an informal poetry group in which patients meet to write, read, and talk about poetry. Often Robertson, a social worker, has the group look at an object or a picture and free associate with a line of poetry. These lines become a group poem and the subject of discussion for the evening.

"Many of the people in the group live alone," he says, "and poetry gives them a reason to get together and socialize." It also enables them to talk about themselves in indirect ways.

In poetry group a patient ay , "Poetry is important to me because I can say things in poems that I can't come right out and say when I'm just talki ng with people." Another patient ays: " Poetry is a tool. It helps me release my feelings when I wake up at 2 a. m. and can't go back to sleep."

One evening Ro bertson walked into the group and put a vase of fresh flowers on the floor. When everyone had written a line of poetry about it, he organized the lines into a group poem:

Vase With Flowers Ralph So simply, and

so quietly can I understand

welcome, from spring flowers. Larry Colors of beauty are focused in a vase.

Do we see this beauty? Do we stop to smell the roses along the way?

Marvin Look at the beautiful mixed colored flowers that do need April showers.

Gloria The colors bright and the water pure Sparkling daisies set off the vase. Henry Here I see you all in all;

THE ARTISTIC

AUTISTIC

I

T's SATl1R0AY MORNING. The center

is quiet as threedevelopmentallydis-abled children rush into the waiting room. They are greeted by three therapists and a volunteer who will work with each child individually for a half hour of art, music. a nd dance.

One of the children is Jebb Danford. Jebb, 17. has been diagnosed autistic. He has language, motor, and perceptual problems. During the week he attends the Robert F. Kennedy School for the Mentally Disabled in Manhattan.

I'd say that if I ulcf

I'd pluck you rrf m ~ ur vase .. · . . Each one of those lines became a point for d1scusswn. Pa-tients began by talking et wanting to p!ck a n~ighbor:s

flowers. Then they talked about problems ,_n curbing their instincts. Soon they were talking about their fears and an-xieties.

" I have trouble holding back my instincts," one patient said. "And then when I need them to help me I have trouble taking a chance on something I wa nt to do. I'm afraid to go to a party by myself." Other patients chimed in with similar kinds of fears.

One patient told about his uncle who grew tomatoes. "'We weren't supposed to pick them," he said. "I still feel a of guilt when I think how we picked them and threw the

other kids. Children don't have inhibitions like we do." The discussion included subjects of loneliness, forgotten memories, and problems of living in the city alone.

"The group is usually intense," says Robertson. "When we finish our poem we are a ble to relax." It's as though the in-tensity of emotion that went into the line of poetry frees everybody to talk more comfortably with each other.

her ha nds. Whe n a child 1s locked in o ne extreme movement, she tries to get him to move into the o pposite movement to ex-pand his ra nge.

"With a normal child we might e ncour-age improvisation, but wi th these chil-dren we offer highly structu red sessio ns," she says. "We make sure they are com-fortable in what they are doing before we move on to something else."

The Saturday morning program is a collaborative effort of Creative Arts Re-habilitation Center. Inc. and Special Citi-1ens Futures nlimited. Inc. Its initial impetus came from Anita Zatlow, Presi-dent of the Special Citi1ens. who has a child paruc1pating in the program. For the first half hour at the center he

plays simple tunes on a recorder, a guitar, and the piano. His face lights up when he sings. "You Light Up My Life." Jebb has perfect pitch but he can't hold a conver-sation.

with greater coordination. We can't do anything too challenging because that in-creases their anxiety."

Zatlow says the program has three maJor obJect1ves: (I) to expand services to developmentally-disabled youths liv-ing with their families in the community; (2) to pro\,ide a program of arts en rich-ment to these children with the hopes of also improving their abilities to sociah,e· and (3) to increase the abilities of 'special citi,ens' to become contributors to them-selves and their communities.

He has trouble holding a wire to make simple sculpture. During the second half hour at the center an art therapist helps him to twist wire into shapes that look like strange animals. In dance therapy. he twists his body back and forth to disco songs. holding onto a therapist's hands.

"These children," says Terry Hodel, music therapist, "have difficulty making relationships. In our individual sessions with them we try to increase their social ab1ht1es while teaching them specific tech-niques that help them express themselves

In art. they work at different levels of manual dexterity. Sandra Gordon. their art therapist. says that 11 is difficult to work with them on a fantasy level. "We are task-oriented," she says. "We build

up an image step-by-step."

"In dance therapy we often start with a gesture, a weight shift to get a child in touch with his body." says Connie ew-man, their dance therapist. Sometimes Connie dances in a circle with a child and can feel increasing trust when the child will lean forward. putting pressure on

Blowing into a recorder. strumming something simple on a guitar. hitting the keys of the piano, twisting a wire. and dancing a twist help these children w 1th their coordination. rhcy have fun at the same time.

"Often they show unusual talent," says Hodel. "One of our children can pla\ Mo1art, but she can't talk." •

IMPROVISATION TO INTIMACY

A

RA'.fA GROl' P AT THE CE'\TER has a similar effect. Once a week Fran Petrow, a volunteer who is getting a degree in social work, meets with pa-tients. She opens each group with an idea for improvisation.

"Let's have a parade." she says one night at the beginning of a group. "What would you like to be in a parade?" she asks each member.

"I'd like to be one of those big balloons high in the sky," says one patient.

"I

want

to be Miss America," says an older woman who giggles.

'TU

be

a drummer." ''I'll be Santa Claus."

'TU be a clown. I like to make people laugh." ''I'll be a drum majorette."

In moments a group of lonely people are transformed into an animated parade, marching around the room singing, "I love a parade," and throwing confetti. The drum majorette struts with a pencil and Miss America smiles and waves. The drummer pounds the air in front of him. Santa Claus laughs and jiggles his belly, making it look like a bowl filled with jelly. The clown makes faces and everybody laughs.

Exhausted, the group sits back. They laugh some more and then an intimacy fills the room that wasn't there before the parade. Miss America, who has returned to being herself, a schizophrenic woman in her fifties, talks about the styling of her hair and asks whether she should have cut it.

"Someone said they liked it better long. My mother and my therapist think I look best in long hair."

"What do you think?" a patient asks her. "I think I like it the way it is," she replies. "I think you should listen to yourself."

Then everyone in the room talks a bout the way they make decisions. An alcoholic who hasn't had a drink in a year tells how he learned he had to make decisions for himself. "Don't

• rental· $35 • purchase; $225

wait until there is no way out," he says.

The woman with short hair decides to keep her hair short. When there is a lull in the conversation the group leader asks members of the group to accept an academy award for their performances. They get up and thank Mom and Dad and Tom, Dick, and Harry and their therapist who "made this moment possible."

Then they consider titles for their autobiographies. One person suggests "Giving to Others." Another tries "My Struggles," and another considers "My Miseries." The one that everyone seemed to like best is "Nobody's Perfect."

In the drama group patients alternate between talking about themselves and taking the roles of others. "Many of them arrive depressed and withdrawn, but if they're capable of making it to the group, they are usually capable of partici-pating in it," says Petrow. "We've created a closeness, a re-latedness in this group that may have begun with role playing but now seems very real."

Instead of psychodrama where patients play out their own problems, this approach puts people at ease by playing oth-ers; then they find it easier to play themselves.

GETTING IN TOUCH-THROUGH ART

I

N A SMALL ROOM ON T HE SECOND FLOOR OF THE CE TER,

tubes of acrylic paint and globs of clay clutter a beat-up old desk. Here art therapist Pierre Boenig meets with patients individually and talks to them while they paint a picture or mold clay into some kind of figure. Belinda Slan, a thin woman who has suffered from anorexia nervosa, examines a picture she has painted which is almost all black. "I did this just before my last depression," she tells Pierre. 'Tm angry you didn't see my depression coming on. It's clear here in this picture. I had a very severe depression after this picture, but I'm strong enough now to take care of myself. I want to quit coming here."

Pierre suggest that she work at the paint while she talks about why she wants to quit. She again uses dark paint, but this time she confine 1t to a much smaller space on the paper. She j uxtaposes it with lots of yellow. "You see I'm much

hap-MOVIE

MOVIE

M

OI /\(, TR£ f.1sa filmwhichdem-ons1ra1es the use of da nce ther-apy with a severely withd rawn schi1ophren1c woman. It presents one condensed dance 1herapy session. Anne Olin. formerly a staff member of Crea11ve Arts Rehab1hta11on Center. "works "wllh Chryssa. a patient 'whose body movement renecb her self-image.

Child 01 1he Gate shows the ase of mu-sic, an. and poetr; therapy in 1he 1rca1-men1 of Kathy. an ad ult sch11ophrenic woma n who had been hosp11ah1ed in mental ins111u1ions more than 20 11mes since the age of 17

11onal paper entitled "Child at the Gate" co,ers music therapy aspects in 1he film. Costs 50 cent, for 1-3 copies and 40 cents for 4 or more copies.

A Svnl(for Michael demonstrates the use of music therapy to help a multiply-handicapped boy of 14 develop language skill,.

• 16 milhmeter sound film in black and "'h11e

• approximately 700 feet long • 19 minutes

8 1'-'CJ\ \IIO'\S \\l\HR 1979

• 35 m1ll1me1er film mp presentation. in color and black and white. w11h audio-tape cassette incorporaung both audible tone and inaudible 50 H, signal for film-strip advancing.

• 34 minutes

• e4u1pment needed: Oukane-1ype. cassc11e tape recorder film,mp proJector. • Cost: $50 for purchase only;

add1-• 16 millimeter sound fi lm in black and white

• 22 minutes • rental: $35 • purchase: $225

For more i11/orma11011. contai'I Crea-111·e Art1 Rehah,/11011011 Center. Im . 251

We.11 5/\/ S1. \ el\ >or/.:. \ Y 10019. Tele-phone (:!I:!) :!46-J I I J

pier now," she says. She adds dabs of rich royal blue. "You need to trust," Pierre says quietly. "You need a dia-logue to share a perceptio n."

" I need to make myself slow down," he says. She adds more yellow slowly. She puts the picture away and picks up a book o n French Impressionism. She looks at a picture of a little girl in a straw hat. " How beautiful," she says calmly. " I guess I'll be seeing you next week," she says with a smile.

"I let her use art

aS-¥fn11J8Sitional

space," he says, "a way to get in to uch with herself

and

with me. Many of o ur pallents wish their fathers had sat with them like I do. Y

need

to know that what they a'tedoing is all right, tha~ I'~l continue to

work with them no matter how they feel. Painting reassu them that they are not alone. Belinda made her own decision to come back. You could see it first in the yellows and blues. And then she was able to say it."

Like many patients, Belinda feels more at home at the cen-ter than at other "rehabilitative" clinics because she can share her interest in the a rts with other people there. One patient calls the center "my extended fa mily."

Another says

"the center feels like an art school, so I'm not

em

sed

She adds more yellow to her picture.

:When Pierre talks a bout Belinda Slan and her depressive episodes, he talks about the ways she struggles to get out from the blackness. "She tries very hard to escape her inter-nal pressures and survive and she represents this in her use

of yellow a nd blue. _{to come here."}

GUIDELINES FOR ORGANIZING

A CREATIVE ARTS THERAPY PROGRAM*

ADMINISTRATION

• Ideally. create a unit at a comprehen-sive treatmen t center. such as a hospital with convenient outpatient facilities or an o utpatient clinic. o r a rehabtlitation agency in the community. The central in-stitution should have a teaching affilta-t10A with a nearby university. if po ,1ble. • An alternative is incorporation as an independent nonprofit organ11ation (as the Creative Arts Rehabilitation Center). The prospects of foundation support and government funding for this type of or-garn,ation. however. are long-range.

• Incorporation requires legal assis-tance and the services of a certified public accountant. It also requires a board of di-rectors. 15 to 20 members.from a broadly representative segment of public life. (If the execume director is a paid staff mem-ber. it is not advisable that she he also be a member of the board .)

STAFFING

• Staff should include reg1,tercd arts therapists with a vaned repertoire of styles. Music therapists. for example. should be capable of performing and teaching many different kinds of instru-ments and voice. using popular. ja11. rock. and classical styles. They should abo be capable of working with adults as well a, developmentally disabled and emot1onally disturbed children.

• More important than musical or arts competency is maturit) and capacity for therapeutic effectiveness.

• An expanding program requires both

•1 ,ccrptcd Jnd updated b~ per m1,,1on lrom "(,u1tk-hnc:, Ju\\Jr<l thL' OrgJn11a1u>n ol ('llnKJI \1 u,1i.: I hi:1

-JP\ Progr~1m, in the Communn~:·h~ I lorcm:l.' I ~,~ln.

.lt1111nalo/ \/11\lc !IU'rtl/Jl. 197l \ 11 ."'-1'.!4

clinical a nd administrat ive assi,tanb to the director. Other possible additions can be a psychia tric social worker. a corn,ul-tant in psychiatry for staff needs. a con-sultant in psychology or ,ociology for re-search needs. a \OCational rehabilitation ,peciali,t. a nd a group social \vorker.

• Profe»ional staft should meet week-ly. if po,s1ble. with the con,ultant psy-chiatrist.

FINANCIAi.

• If there is an affiliat1on with a com-prchen,ivc treatment a nd teachi ng insti-tution. the organi,at1om should enter into a reciproca l relatio nship where spon-sor,hip is exchanged for servicing the clinical and training needs of each.

• An independent creative arts therap) service requires 'seed money,' to develop support from sources such as prospecme board members. private fouhd:itions. or-gani,auons and funds devoted to the reha-bilitation of the handicapped. and goyern-mental agencies.

• In the developmental pha,e. there will be a limited income from patients' fees and from occasional reimbursement from a referring agency. /\t the start. the center charged from$ I to $10 per session. later increasing the range of fees from $6 to $35. Those who can only pay in the $6 to $14 range must be placed on a waiting list. but no waiting period is required for those who could afford to pay $15-$35.

• /\n important contribution in the ear-ly phase 1s staff time. if qaff are willing to contribute a block of hours \\1th the hope of working up to a paid pos111on later.

• A sound and \igorous fund-ral\ing and public relauons campaign ,hould he instituted immediately

INFORM11'G THE C0~1Ml NITY

• During the early p hases. \Hite for a ppointment, (on orgarn,ational letter-head) for e xploratory d iscuss1om wit h local. state. and federal menta l healt h rep-resentatives in the commu111ty. I he basis for d iscu.sion is the need for expert advice a nd guida nce. and the explorauon of po-tentia l relat10nsh1ps or assistance o ppor-tuniues under ex1st1ng p rograms.

• Request appointme nt, \\Ith psy,ch1-atric directo rs of the community\ me ntal

health facilities: hospitals. public a nd pri-vate clinics. and rehah1htat1on centers. to

inform them o f the plans and to ascertai n the degree of interest in potential relerrals. • Make 3 x 5 cards for each contact . noting the date and content of the 1nter-\ 1ew; thi; will become the nucleus of t he profes,1onal mailing list. Write letters of appreciation after appointments.

• Prepare a brochure which include, definition, of the art therapies. their role

111 rehabtlitation. the organi,ation\

refer-ral proces,. and a list of ,pon,or,. • Mail the brochure v. 1th a CO\ er letter signed by a medical advl\or to all the pn-\ate psych1atn,ts in the area. and to cltn-ics. ho,pitals. treatment centers. organi-1atiom,. and school<..

• Send press release, of the o rgani,a -tion to local and na -tional media. ld e ntih key people in the media \\ho v.tll be inte;-ested; k_eep 3' 5 card, o n a ll p uhhc1t\ . • Write public service ,1nnounccme~t, for local media and seek media intcn1c\" ahout the program

•. Communicate \\at h pracutioncr, in \anou, related discipline, lkcau,e the art, therap1c, arc ne\\ til the communit\

mental health lidd. the hurden i, upon the creall\C an, therapl\t to demo nstrate the core of common goal, \\ h1ch mot1\ ate, all the d1sc1pltne, In\ ol\cd

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SEE HOW IT RUNS

T

IIF < r,nR 1s OPE:\ from noon to 8 p.m. weekdays

to se~ve_ tts regular group of 80 or more patients, a maJonty of whom have been diagnosed schi10-phrenic, most of whom have been hospitalized. Patients come for regularly scheduled group or individual sessions. and often wait in the cheerful reception room just to socialize with their friends. (Special programs for others, such as the autistic persons described in the accompanying box, are offered on Saturdays.) Some are working part-time, but most live on disability insurance because they aren't yet able to hold a job.

To help many of these patients with everyday problems of li,ing, the center runs a "life skills" group once a week which deal with practical social and vocational problems such as how to find an apartment or a job.

After being referred to the center by their psychotherapist, patients meet Tyson for an initial interview in which she ex-plores the appropriateness of the program for the individual. Once accepted into the program, patients continue to work with psychotherapists outside of the center. Consultation between art therapists and psychotherapists occurs as need-ed or requirneed-ed. The two therapists may discuss a patient who is ha,ing a severe problem which may require hospitaliza-tion. but Tyson stresses that the referring psychotherapist or psychiatrist, not the arts therapist. has medical responsibility for the patient.

Most patients continue at the center fo r about four years; those who drop out usually quit after one or two sessions. No formal follow-up has been initiated, a nd the center depends on letters and calls from patients to know how they are faring. The center is not eligible for third-party payments and re-ceives no government support. Its funding, then, comes most-ly through grants, contracts, rental a nd sale of fi lms, a nd fund-raising efforts. A strong supporter of the center pro-gram is actress Celeste Holm, President of the Board a nd a major fund-raiser. Last year she offered "The Utter Glory of Morrissey Hall," a musical comedy in which she starred, as a benefit performance to raise funds for the center.

Critics of a rts therapy say it's an expensive luxury, that it's "mental health dilettantism," fine for those who

can

afford it but not mainstream rehabilitation or treatment. Tyson would disagree. She says the arts work with a person's feelings and creativity, tapping the deepest psychological resources.

"What we try to do," she says. "is to get our patients to function better and to increase their self-respect. Each art represents a language that expresses a personal search for authenticity."

Or. as one withdrawn male patient put it: "Life is a puzzle. The center helps me understand more pieces of the puzzle."

SF

For more in(ormarion, 11·ri1e: Florence T,1 .rnn. R. At . T, E\ecu111•e Dir~cror, Crearive Arr.1 Rehahilirarion Cenrer, Im . 251 Wesr 5 /sr Sr., Ne11· York . .VY /0019. Telephone (!12) 24fi-JI IJ.

/11nol'llt1011s ,., an experimental magazine

publi,hed by 1he American In,t11u1es for Research. P.O Box 1113. Palo Alto, Calif. 94302. in

collaborallon with the National In,titute of Mental Health Copyright

·:f'

1979 by American Institutes for Research. It i, ,upported by a collaborative grant from the Mental Health Ser\ ice, Development Branch of the National Insrnute of "Aental Hea!th, grant number 2 Rl2 MH25121-06

For Program Information, address inquiries to:

Michael Makofsky, RMT

Program Coordinator

Creative Arts Rehabilitation Center

251 West 51st Street

New York, N.Y. 10019

MAY "

r::

1QR()

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 22, 1979

At This Clinic,

Arts Are the

Only Therapy

By SUE MITIENTIIAL

IEL is a burly man with timid eyes and a self-conscious manner, but give him some-thing to sing, and for a few minutes he is powerful and radiant. Eyes close, arms stretch out, face and body strain, and his song emerges strong and clear: "For once in my lifetime,

I feel like a giant. I soar like an eagle, as though I had wings ... . "

Daniel had a nervous breakdown a year ago and

often feels depressed. But here, In music therapy, it is his moment. "I like this song - it makes me happy," he says, smiling. "If I didn't sing, I co~dn't live. I only feel happy when I'm singing, or looking at music, or listening to music."

Florence Tyson, Daniel's music therapist, who has been accompanying him on the piano, says, "When he does a scale, he just blooms. But he's always say-ing it was no good. He's very hard on himself. There's a lot to this human being, but he cries all the time. I hope we can get to the pain."

This is Daniel's weekly session at the Creative Arts Rehabilitation Center Inc., in Manhattan. The cen-ter. which provides psychothE'r3ov through a

combi-nation of music, dance and an, is one of the few com-munity clinics in the country devoted solely to arts therapy. Adults and children are treated for disor-ders ranging from neuroses to psychoses. The only requirement is that the patient be referred by a psy-chotherapist who is treating him regularly. Fees are det~rmined by the patient's ability to pay.

"Most of the patients here are very seriously non-· functioning people with mixtures of schizophrenia a~d fragmented egos, or they are very fragile people with no ego strengths," explained Miss Tyson, the center's founder and executive dil'e<'tor. Conven-tional therapy has been largely unsuccessful with them, but the center says it is able to report some im-provement each year in more than 60 percent Of the cases.

Miss Tyson explained that patients at the center are so cut off from their sensations and feelings that they are unable to verbalize them in traditional psy-cho~erapy. But here, they do not have to talk. Each patient c~ooses a medium (voice, an instrument, dance, pamts or clay) to work on during weekly 45-minute sessions with a registered arts therapist.

The time is theirs to improvise, to create or to practi~e assiduously, and in the process, feelin~s.

A Clinic in Manhattan Relies

dream

symbols and behavior patterns are spontaneously expressed. The ~rapist. in an Indirect way, facili-tates this and helps the patient to recognize what has emerged.

Whfie not all experts agree on the ef-fectiveness of arts therapy, many see It

as

a usefnl supplement to more tradi-tional methods of treatment.

Dr . .John O'Connor, a psychoanalyst said of it: "I don't know of any studi~ that have proven that arts therapy would work on its

own."

"However, it Is an adjunctive

serv-ice.," said D_r. O'CoMor, who is also an associate clinical professor of psychia-try at the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Columbia University. "In other words, if your basic form of treat-ment ls either psychotherapy or drug therapy, arts. therapy can be quite help. ful in the eventual recovery of the pa-tient.

"It offers several additional compo-nents: a channel for self-expression, another interactional process, and probabl1 most important, it Is removed from the source of the confiict, which can be very helpful to the patients' Well-being: It is something to build up their egos."

"But," he 'Went on, "it does not pro-vide the insight, transference, under-standing of one's development or relief of symptoms that are found with psy-chotherapy or drug therapy."

•

For .Cryssa, dance therapy was a key

to the hurt locked deep inside of her. Cryssa. growing up in the South, was 7 when her mother died. Shortly after

that she and her brothers were taken away from their father, who had been abusing her, and the family was dis-persed. Cryssa spent the next seven years in 10 different foster homes, and three years in an orphanage.

"I had always felt many things -anger, pain, sadness and mostly fear, but good things, too, and I couldn't say them," Cryssa, now 50 years old, re-called. "At home, when nobody was there, l spent most of the time rolled up next to the wall to try to keep from crying and screaming."

Cryssa was referred to Miss Tyson at the age of 30, after a year In the hospi-tal and unsuccessful attempts to ex-press herself verbally during 14 years of psychotherapy. She was Isolated and severely withdrawn when she arrived.

•

"The dance therapy worked

as a

lan-guage:for me," she explained.

"Actual-ly, feeli.iip

are

not~. ressable in

lan-guage.:_~ you cry, that's a lan-guage,-llut It's DOt words, It's a feeling

lan~ae-"I 'would

start' feeling things in my body:,when J was dancing, then I would

start .scre1u1\ing and then crying and then I'd try to say what it felt like," she contlhued.

Cryssa's dance ¢eraptst, Anne Olin, mirro~ her patient's movements, helping Cryssa to Identify and under-stand-~r fee~. -This physical tap. port wened the way for Cryssa to ver-bal cbmmunicatlon and a c:lose,

trust-ing ~~hip with the therapist. D~, along with music and art thera-py, ultimately led toCryssa's obtaining a master's degree in special education. She now work, with autistic children, helping them to express themselves.

The center is an outgrowth of the Mu-sicla:ns' Emergency Fund, an organiza-tion ,started during the Depression to

pro\11.~ • employment for musicians. Outing the early 50's, Miss Tyson, then its fund-raiser, got the Idea of sending musicians out to work with patients at

mental hospitals. Encouraged by the success of that program, she set up a new branch within the fund - the Music Rehabilitation Center - to

which patients came, referred by

hos-pitals and psychiatrists.

When funding for that division was dropped in 1962, MiS;S Tyson said, she

and her staff "moved lock, stock and barrel uito the basement of my ex-hus-band's music store - the same pa-tients, the same old fuzty typewriter, and a couple of broken chairs." The fol-lowing year they incorporated as the Creative Arts Rehabilltion Center, and after several relocations, planted themselves on two floors above a

French restaurant at 251 West 51st Street.

The center is bright, colorful and roey, and for the patients - most of

whom live alone and tend not to

social-ize - it serves as something of an ex-tended family.

"There's a very special point to the fact that this Is a nonbospital-like set-ting," said Ralph Robertson, the cen-ter's program director and a social worker. "It's got gay colors and scal-loped edging around the ceiling, and

book shelves. It's more informal, so people can feel like, 'Hey, this ls a place where I can relax a little bit, maybe be

myself.'" TIG:,eaRQD at lntoa

aaeou,._

... 'hJsterica) neurotic: symptoms"

by

tJ

isbed CXIUege. At tbe

centJ

play the Dute. "And trel

ings came out right a•

tbere

wu

no lnte\\tctual way,"besaid. "ltp~Jli tension and anger."

He ultimately went on

e

ter's degne in

IOClal

"Playing tbe

1nstrume

to dissipate a lot of the

W

he explained. "and then

plode like a wlc:am

eves

balf and wind up ID the hoe Peter t in his late J>'S,

drums at tbe center, but posing of nd music that of and eager to

dlscu.9.-"All my 1CJ1111 deal

young men," be said. His acten leap, climb moanu credible speeds and

sc

heights. "I've beesu1•e1 my life," he explained. "J my mother and father."

It Is when he !eesJOWll!

or skate-boarding tbat Pe Inspired to comp01e. .

"There was a guy

Jibe

down the streets 1114· t11 never catch 111m ,ad .II

crimes and

was -

ca

he

was ao

fast. I tumec

said.

"I got such a feellltl of j

took my bands and starte lent ll)OtiOIII. I clDD'I hit

go into

_{conwJslalllol}

a te

expressenerD

1011grtgbt Pierre .DUl.,.if'III' at -u,e center,

•t

s unconscious

out n

painting

and

eeuJpt'Jl'e are the least sn,icture fo:S~. one of hiS patl• often paints wbell sbt feel ' "Recently, l'Ve

:;1:

very bard

wn:.

•'!be f traits," she ,al ed ())IOrs out in very mut C)(ber • PY-looking. Tbe

vet .

•-lb: really like, ls In rd. It's 1

hits you ~~Wb~ttslhe s1

THE NEW YORK TIMES, WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 22, 1979

Arts Alone as Psychotherapy

. .

• hlmself

~hedby

6-reer

as a

child actor , he found himself ex-~ricat, anxiety kind of

ilS'' by the time be fin-:he center, he chose to

tremendous feel-right away because

ellectua1 thing in the t

gave.me

a release of

...

!felJt on to get bis

mas-ctal

wor1t.

~tallows you

Olnctf the flullt-up anger," then you don't

ex-bO every year and a

In the hospital ...

•te 20's, ls practicing ~ter. but it is his com-ilsic that be ls proudest

lscuss:

gs deal with daring

said. His musical

char-b

mountains, nm at

In-f-

and scale dizzying

ieeM•1erprotected all iained. "I still live with

ather."

l!eS young men running

g that Peter often feels

o,e,: .

1 guy

ftbo

said he

ran

:s

and·

the cops could

m jlnd .he committed

ne'Yet

caught because

I turned purple," he

!!ellni of jealousy that I

started making vio-lon't hit anybody, but I

ms of a terrible drive to

then

.,.

I

compose a

therapist

d tbat

sometimes

the

ars

out more easily in

i

_b!~_!!:;its, said she

IP she feels distressed.

t,een going through a e ar,d doing self-por-iL •-1be first

one came

·ed

colors, very unhap.

c,tJ,er one, which I ver'/ 'librant colors. It ~rd- It's a very strong iat is.the statement?

The patients

express

themselves

through music,

dance and

art.

"Tbere's anaer In It. and a vttallty."

she said. "And there's a pain in the";: a

very Intense pain that comes across.

Sarah.

who regularly

sees a

psychia-trist on the outside, explained the dif-ference between the treatments.

"With the mode of expression hereusing paints Instead of verbal words

-things

come

out that

can

be less

tangi-ble " she said. '"They

can start

out less tangible. You have an image and it's

not even that exact. It's

Just a

feeling.

And then

you can put words

to it,

a~r-ward: The other way [verbal therapy} it's kind of the reverse; you have to conceptualize something first, get

words out to pinpoint something. It's the other side of it."

Miss Tyson agreed that speech can

be an inadequate form of self.expres-sion: words, sentences, grammer -the- ,rigidity of language - hamper communication.

"I think the arts provide a looser lan-guage," she said. "In other words,

there's an inborn need for

s;ommunica-tion, people need to be perceived. We have patients who improvise, and it's really way out, morbid, spooky stuff. But it doesn't matter. They're groping for their own bit of turf, their own stat~ ment, something they can say in their own way. That is also the impulse

be-hind a lot of creativity."

The center now treats 75 patients in

individual tl)erapy sessions of art, music or dance. In addition, patients ate encouraged to participate in

weekly small-group activities fpr

so-cialization. There is draina, poetry, dance, a rock band, and a biannual musicale that gives them a chance to perform. The center also runs several free outreach programs around the city and a Saturday morning arts program for developmentally disabled teen-agers.

•

Mr. Robertson said each patient's private weekly session, plus the pa-tient's participation in the group, coun-seling by the social worker or therapy during a crisis, and the use of the facili-ties for practicing or socializiung, costs the center $33 a week.

But with fees based on a slilding scale from $6 to $35, the center collects only an average of $10 per patient per week. It has been unable to obtain Medicaid or any city, state or Federal funding, he said, because arts therapy is recognized only as an adjunctive service, not a primary psychiatric treatment.

With Celeste Holm, the actress, as its

chief fund-raiser· nnd president of its

board of directors, the center has man-aged to raise money through private

and corporate donations, and through

benefit concerts performed by Miss

Holmandherhusband, Wesley Addy.

Of the 15 staff therapists - all of

whom are registered in professional

arts-therapy organizations .- only

three can afford to work full time at the

center. The rest are part-time. "It's a tremendous sacrifice and

struggle," Miss Tyson said. "You

really have to want to be here."

"Me, just sh_ow me a patient, that's

my thing," she continued. "Each time a new patient comes through the door and I see what it

can

mean,

I'm

Just

in-spired all over again. It happens every

day."

Sue Mittenthal is a freelance write, based in Manhattan.

For inmediate release

inhow blvd , Kan, (

11y

I

r, ,

January

30, 1980

Susan Shipley, Director

Article

hy

Beth McPherson

Music Therapy in the Delivery Room:

A

Lahar of Love

KANSAS CITY,

KAN.--Above the cry of a newborn

baby,

the

sounds of the

"Hallelujah Chorus'

sv

1

~11

and the atmosphere in the del fvC!ry room becomes one of

joy and celebration.

This

is

an increasingly con1T1on scene in the del fVl"'rY rooms at the University

of

Kansas Medical Center, where music therapy is beinq uc;0d to help the expectant

nlOther

relax, then celebrate the birth of her child.

Within the past year, music therapy has been used in

a

dozen deliveries

by Dr. Sterling Williams, an assistant professor of gynecology and obstetrics

at the medical center and one of the founders of the program. The innovative

program is believed to be the only

une

of its kind in the country.

"It has ~iorked beautifully.''

Dr.

Williams Sdid of the therapy. "Our datll

is very rough, but right now, labor is tending to look shorter with music

therapy involved."

In

the program, the expectant mother spends six hours with one

of

thr two

music

therapists, fi1 st choosing music and then learning to relax to the

ca eful

ly

program11ed si:lect1ons. The thPrapy is used in conjunction with

Lamaze natural childbirth an,J other prepared chi 1db1rlh 111ethods.

When labor

begins

and the woman

comes

to

the hospita l, the music

therapist comes too.

-Music Therapy,

a1

·DflC

"We

start the music a~ soon as admission is over," said Michael Clark,

a musfc therapist at the medical center. "The music therapist is there to

monitor the music because it

I

s

_{important that thP music be responsive to}

what's going on in labor."

During the labor process, Clark or Ronald McCor~le,

a

music therapist at

t. Joseph State Hospital in St. Joseph, Missouri, play selectiqns to help

the wcxnan relax. The music, chosen by the therapist with quidance from the

patient, tends

to

be classical and instrumental.

"We

stay away from choral music because you have to make such an effort

to listen to the words," Dr. Williams said. "We've found the instrumental

more relaxing, However,

1f

the woman is having discomfort,

we

may switch to

hard rock for

a

diversion."

The music is ~lso played

at a hiqher than normal volume so the woman

can focus her attention on the music.

When the birth becomes illlllinent, the music is switched to selections

made

by

the parents.

"The music we play during and after delivery is music to reflect the

parents• feelings," Clark said. "We want

it

to

be meaningful, so the woman,

or couple, chooses the music."

While

the'~allelujah Chorus"from Handel

1

s

11

Messiah" has been selected

_by

sever~l

women, ft has

not

been

the only choice. Choices have ranged from the

Masterpiece Theatre Theme

to

Stevie Wonder's "Isn't

She

lovely."

"The parents have l>een pleased with the outcome," Clark said.

'All

of

them h~ve

been

pleased, and that's encouraginq.

11

Mu~1c Therapy,

add two

Dr.

Wi 11

iams

d. "It's been

a

very beautiful experience. The parents

are happier and inding it much more pleasant. The nurses enjoy

it,

and

I

like

having mus 1c playing while

we

work,

11

he added.

Not only are the women happy with the music, but Dr. Wi111ams believes the,v

are using less anesthetic because of

it •

. f

"It 1s not our goal to eliminate anesthetic, it's just something that I

·, think wilt happen," Dr. Williams said. He told of one case, in which forceps

l 1ere needed to assist in the birth of a child.

"This usually requires a good amount of anesthetic, but

we

had the right

kind of music and she realty concentrated on it, so she didn't take any anesthetic .

She

did very

welt,

11

Dr. Wi

₁₁

iams said.

"One patient sang during her delivery,"

he

added. "She didn't sinq the

whole thing, but she was going along with

1t!"

Dr.

Williams, who himself sings with the Kansas

City

Philharmonic and

Kansas City Civic Chorus, said he got the idea of combining music and medicine

after

a

particularly strenuous rehearsal.

"I

was tired, but

I

was also very

relaxed and started wondering if there was some way it could be applied to my

medical practice."

He approached Michael Clark and Ronald Mccorkle aoout developing

a

program

a year

190. and

together they believe they have made

a

successful beginning.

Their

patients agree.

One mother, an admitted skeptic at first, sa1d, "I didn't know

1f

the

music would be of benefit because I don't listen to music very much. BUt I

f~und

that

1t really did help me relax. I wouldn't want to do it over again

w1 thout

tlllS

1c

therapy.

11

APR O 9 1979

a·nstreaming Young Exceptional Children With Music

by Marcelle Yernana

San Francisco Alumni

iandah'

hlt1L,tlio11 ol J\11 Handu.:appcd C111ldrcn i\cl ol

(l'I ')4 147 broughl 10 a climax scvcial yca1s or ,tlmnal, soc1, I, and political conlrovc1sy co11cc1ning l!atcd special education classes versus integrated lar classes. This law mandates that schools and states e every handicapped child in the United States in the t restrictive alternative. This implies that many, if not , t, handicapped children will attend regular classes, -:urning absorbed into the mainstream of education.

rohlt'ms to he solved

i\ numher ol problems will require solution. While still .t\ltll' 1hr satlll' basil' needs as "1101mal" children h. 11n-dl<-1 . I .11 vt·1 l'l77a), lta11d1rappl'd oi disabled htld1c11 ,,11 v 111 11te11 1110101 skill devclopmt:nt a11cl their

.1 htl11, 10 t01Kcplu,tl11e or symboli,c. Reger (1970a) says 1h.11 l.1hl'11111• ,0111l'111tH's ;t\\lllllcs llt,11 these d11ld1t·n 11111,1 l>t' l..q11 apa11 110111 olhcr children. Because ma111sl1t:am111g "ill de-label mmt mildly retarded children and will m11111111,c lhe labd111g ol others, learning needs rather than dis.ihtlily catego1ies will be the cri,eria ror building and 111d1viduali,ing the curriculum. Special and regular educa-tion personnel will have to coordinate their programs in ordt:r to wo1 k ell ectively with exceptional children while not reducing their effectiveness in teaching "normal" children. Specialized training will be necessary for elemen-tary te..ichers, according to Love (1974).

I lclp will probably come from para-professional aids, resource and itinernnt teachers, special education con-sultants, tutorial programs, directive leaching (Steel 1977) and, perhaps, "engineered classrooms" (Berry 1972). Mainstreaming involves changing attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors (Gilbert 1977).

Prerequisites for a mainstreaming medium

A successful mainstreaming medium must (I) be a

com-mon interest and heritage of all children, (2) be flexible enough for both individual and group participation, (3) permit a variety of physical, psychological and intellectual response levels, (4) encourage participation by children with varying degrees of ability in all areas or response, and (5) be a catalyst for positive social and communicative results in the integration of exceptional children with d11ldrcn-in-majority. The medium which satisfies all these ,·ritc11a 1s MUSIC.

Young children in every culture sing and dance and exprc~~ themselves with their own rhythmic movements. Mu\1c reinforces a feeling of security, teaches everyday skills, stimulates imagination, relaxes tense bodies, and encourages a desire to play and work. Music gives children the unique pleasure that is experienced only when they

\.\fNTE:.R- 1979

make music (Ye1 na1.1a 1978). It develops tolerance among children and helps them m:cept individual differences and handicaps (Meadows 1977).

Music is also a form or pre-language and non-verbal communication, a unilanguage for children who come together speaking different languages. Music helps speech difficulties and can teach new vocabulary crucial to every-day living. It helps children learn to laugh and play when they have never laughed before, and to succeed-perhaps for the first time. It also teaches discipline to the child who must control himself in order to participate.

Music encourages a desire to cooperate in a group, at the same time developing a positive self imaite. It is a natural ralalysl 1"01 ka111111g a11d a sl1011g 111ains11ea111ing medium for young lca1 ners .

M nsk t·1h1l'11for, ')ll'III.

l.ead111g music cdut.:al,>rs ha\l.: long recogni,.ed the important role music can and should play in children's developmcnl. Kodaly ( 1967), Hungarian composer and educa,01, ·who evolved a system of musit: pedagogy based on singing and rhythm in which the child uses his voice and hands and feet for instruments, said, "The fortunate child who can takt: part in singing games, whether in kinder-garten or in free play with other children, has a great advantage over those who never had an opportunity to do so."

Emile Jacqucs-Oalcro,c ( 1921) used the time-space-energy relationship of body movement directed toward dual growth, rngnitivc ancl affective. He envisioned an all-inclusive development with rhythmic sense, musical ear, muscular coordination, mental coneentration, the social sense. Aronoff (1969) says that the Dalcroze approach is notable in its contribution to the child's awareness, vitality and freedom.

Carl Orff ( I 959), German musician and educator, in-volves children in feeling, speaking, singing, conscious listening, playing instruments, moving in space and rhythmic expression. Activated senses of hearing, seeing and touching arc integrated with muscular-motor coor-dination with emphasis on the sensory motor process. Special educators and music therapists have achieved good results using Orff techniques (Bitcon 1976).

Educators sec Surnki's Talent Education Program not n1t:rely as a violin teaching mc1hod, but also as a total human experience. Su,.uki stresses a conditioned environ-ment where aural perception and sensorial experience are of prime importance. Suzuki (1969) says, "Every child can be educated; it is only a matter of the method of education." He minimizes talent and ability and empha-sizes environment, steady work, and repetition, and, most

...

.,.

intellectual task is learning a spoken language, Montessori involved children in sensory training, manual skills, explor ative experiences and cooperative social graces, and then challenged the children to talk about them. Why not sing about them?

In their work with deprived, preschool, mentally retard-ed children , Spicker, Hodges, McCandless ( 1970) found that music helped develop elaborative language.

Lillie ( 1975a) defines the developmentally handicapped child as one eight years or younger who has a one thi1 d or greater deficiency in I wo or more of I he following speci fie

areas of development-perception, g1oss motor, fine motor, receptive language, expressive language, reasoning. Music overlaps into all these areas. Love (1972a) says, "In all probability, if individual differences were truly met in the regular classroom, there would be no need to utilize the term educable mentally retarded." Music stimulates and challenges the backward child to succeed. In the broad scope of musical involvements, there is always something in which these children can achieve outstanding success. Children who arc confused and bewildered by a group will find music an 0111Ic1, sollll'lhing with 01dc1 a11J

01ga11i,a-lil>n which they can u11dc1s1and and ,01 I out.

13ecausc mainstreami ng is baseu 011 an inuividuali,i:d app1oach, ca,ly d1il<.lhood teachers will certainl y apply it with handicapped childrc11 (1.illic 1975h). Music ca11 ht· used to leach 01 tt:lllllllCt: visual pe1cqllio11 , l:i11guage sk ill~ and the reasoning prot:c~s. (:vans (1971) lists these areas of developmental concern: physical, cognitive, sOl:ioemo-tional. All the programs she describes use music.

When Morrison ( 1976) describes the curriculum for the kindergarten with cognitive emphasis, he indudes finger plays, rhythms, instruments, imitative actions and songs, sometimes related to story time. He also suggests music as a practical means of teaching other skills.

Humanistic educators aim to develop the child's inner resources so he will become an enthusiastic learner (Weber 1970). Music is, perhaps, the most human of the arts and a natural vehicle for learning.

Music is a lso a definite and important link between home and school. A child can bring home a happy melody, a song story, a rhythm game, a humorous answer-back activity. Once the child has experienced the music it belongs to him. He can take it home and share it.

Conclusions

Mainstreaming is now a fact. Music, a universal aesthetic experience for young children , is a natural vchidc for mainstreaming (Gilbert 1977). Music, special and regular teachers, therapists and parents agree that music in early childhood is valuable to all young children. Music is a strong mainstreaming medium.

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