Thanks to the Ford Motor Company Fund, the Academy of Country Music, Lifting Lives Foundation and Country Superstar, Pam Tillis, the Rochelle Center was able to implement a music therapy program.
Music Therapy is an established health profession in which music is used within a therapeutic relationship to address physical, emotional, cognitive and social needs of individuals. Through musical involvement in the therapeutic context, clients’ abilities are strengthened and transferred to other areas of their lives. Music therapy also provides avenues for communication that can be helpful to those who find it difficult to express themselves in words.
With the funding from the Ford Motor Company Fund and ACM Lifting Lives we were able to renovate an area designated for music therapy, purchase instruments and learning materials as well as secure therapy sessions for two years with a professional music therapist. Since the inception of the program, we have witnessed that the majority of clients who participate in music therapy have increased focus, recall, attention, independent initiation of appropriate actions, and decreases in self-stimulatory disruptive behaviors.
