APPRECIATION OF LIFE
Music therapy course aids community
They ended the day with rings on their fingers and bells on their toes, laughing with nursing home residents and reflecting on the day's events.
An hour before, they pretended they were the Harlem Globetrotters with a group of prison inmates, watching and learning — enriching their own academic experiences at UW-Eau Claire.
But for this group of eight music therapy students in the experimental year of the "Therapeutic Applications of Dance and Movement" course, this summer has meant much more.
"The purpose of the class is to integrate music, kinesiology and dance and theater to the application of achieving therapeutic goals in the geriatric and prison setting," senior Jeffrey Miller said.
That goal is accomplished in a number of ways, said Lee Anna Rasar, associate professor of music therapy.
Using big band music featuring Glenn Miller and rhythm exercises aimed at increasing movement and in effect, disposition, the students learn techniques in a classroom setting and then apply them with two populations — one at the Syverson Lutheran Nursing Home and the other at a prison facility.
Students lead participants in an array of exercises and physical therapy games, either set to music or using therapeutic tools. Some group work is done but students also work one-on-one with participants.
Rasar said it is hoped the class will replace a course in eurhythmics that will no longer be offered on campus but which is required for music therapy majors and dance minors.
Because it also includes provision of services to both inmates in the jail and residents at a nursing home, it incorporates a service-learning component that truly represents the intent of the program, Rasar said.
In addition to their educational lessons, students have noticed changes in their appreciation of many daily activities such as driving a car or the freedom to move or walk, Rasar said.
But changes also are evident in the residents of both community facilities — from posture and attitude to motivation, interaction, relaxation and effort, she said.
"It's interesting to see how you can use music and induce a change in mindset," Miller said.
"All of them really get into it," said senior music therapy major Melissa Wenszell. "It's true laughter and true smiles. They're not laughing because it's silly, they're laughing because it's fun."
Instructor Toni Roll-Sorensen said the therapeutic goal of the course is secondary to another important aspect.
"This is so much more about relationships — about human contact than it is about range of motion or developing rhythmic sense," she said.
Senior Lisa Pusch agreed.
"An inmate who came to a class said she was told the class was like an acid trip without the acid," she said. "The activity is more than they're used to and the emotional freedom — acting silly — it lets their guard down."
"It's nice to find a substitute high for drugs that has no negative sequelae," Rasar said.
Learning about those emotional highs and other areas of therapy, the class meets Monday-Thursday for the rest of the summer session.
[News Bureau]
[Summer Times]
The Summer Times is published every Monday during Summer Session. Official Notices should be sent through the appropriate vice or assistant chancellor's office to the News Bureau by 10 a.m. Monday one week prior to publication. Students, faculty and staff may submit news items, art or photographs by mailing them to the News Bureau, sending e-mail to GRADINRL@uwec.edu or calling 836-4423.
Rebekah Gradinjan, Editor
Judy Berthiaume, Managing Editor
Kirsten Singleton, Writer
News Bureau
University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire
Schofield 218
Eau Claire, WI 54702-4004
(715) 836-4741
Updated: Aug. 3, 1998
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