"I love talking about my work.  I love the stories," says the young woman to a visitor. Credit Valley Hospital's music therapist obviously loves her work and explains why it is her ideal career.  “I catch these moments of joy, of intimacy and reconciliation.  I can be present to one person at a crucial time."

Music therapy is "the clinical use of music by an accredited music therapist to promote, maintain and restore mental, physical, emotional and spiritual health." according to the Canadian Association for Music Therapy.  A music therapist is a performance-level musician with extensive training in musical skills, psychology and music therapy techniques.

On-site since July 2001 and working two and a half days a week, Adrienne Pringle's caseload is comprised of patients taken from the palliative care, oncology and complex continuing care units at Credit Valley Hospital.   Her role is to play for patients, either live (guitar, voice, piano) or provide access to recorded music. Adrienne's purpose may include facilitating memories, supporting a life review, or helping provide a legacy for survivors.  It may involve drawing family members together in a calm, pleasant, shared experience, helping people express difficult emotions, nurturing a patient's loved ones or reducing a patient's symptoms.

She may be called upon to provide familiar tunes or to improvise.  Each palliative care room has a CD player and the Unit owns a CD library of 500 donated discs.

Music therapy can offer relaxation and distraction from pain, anxiety and other symptoms when medical interventions are not enough.  One patient was constantly nauseous--nothing seemed to help.  Working with a Therapeutic Touch practitioner, Adrienne provided live music, following the rhythm of her colleague's touch and the patient's breathing.  Soon the patient was experiencing 24 hours of relief after each therapy session.

Adrienne believes that music is a powerful therapy because it is linked to the limbic system, providing a strong emotional connection.  The limbic system includes the brain structures involved with emotion, motivation and the emotional associations with memory.

Music therapy is an option available to those with terminal illness.  Referral comes from physicians, nurses, patients, family members and other members of the interdisciplinary team.  The music therapist meets with patients or their family members, to explore their needs and to see if music therapy can assist in meeting those needs.  Techniques might include song writing, relaxation, discussion, improvisation and listening.

Adrienne's interest in palliative care started as an undergraduate, working with a group called the "social hymn singers," in which one of its members had terminal liver cancer.  Adrienne spent the evening before the patient died, sitting on her bed and choosing hymns with her and her family for her funeral.

Adrienne’s mother, a nurse, was a significant influence on her decision to go into music therapy.  She says her mother was always finding articles on music therapy and directing her towards that career.  When she completed her Bachelor of Arts in Music at Mount Allison University in 1997, she followed her heart and entered the Bachelor of Music Therapy program at Wilfrid Laurier University.

In 2003, Adrienne graduated from the Masters program from the same university.  Her thesis was entitled, "Giving a Voice to Dying".  In her research she uncovered themes involved with music selected in the context of palliative care.  These themes included a sense of peace, permission to "just be,"opening doors, creating a sacred space, acknowledging the suffering and letting go.

Music therapy requires empathy, compassion and a sensitive ear.  The profession is relatively new in Canada and the field is currently dominated by young women. Adrienne suggests that readers interested in further information about music therapy could look at "Music at the Edge" by Colin Lee, available at Caversham Books in Toronto.

She currently supervises both graduate and undergraduate students in their practicums. Students do field work with clients as part of their music therapy degree program and a supervisor's job includes guiding them to make the best use of this opportunity.

One very touching story illustrates just how powerful a tool music therapy can be in palliative care.  A young patient with breast cancer expressed a desire to compose a song for her four-year-old daughter.  She chose one of her daughter's favorite lullabies, "What a Wonderful World" and recorded the song with Adrienne.  The resulting CD lives on as a legacy and wonderful gift for this little girl.

I see my daughter, a lovely child
An artist, an angel, so pretty, so wild
And I think to myself
What a beautiful girl 

Melissa you're a strong and independent girl
You are bright and sweet, an enchanting child
Mommy wants you to know
That she'll never go
I'm watching, I'm here, I'm guiding your way
And I think to myself
What a wonderful girl 

I see my daughter, I'll watch her grow
To be a beautiful woman, I'm proud and I know
That I think to myself
What a beautiful girl,
Yes I think to myself
What a wonderful girl