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Everyone
has
their
go-to
playlist
when
they
need
to
relax
or
cheer
up.
Audrey
Zybura
'16,
who
majored
in
music
therapy
at
BW,
is
harnessing
that
power
of
music
to
help
patients
in
the
behavioral
health
unit
at
Houston
Methodist
Hospital
through
personalized
playlists.
These
playlists,
perfectly
tuned
to
patients'
musical
tastes,
can
then
be
used
in
the
unit's
sound
dome,
a
directional
speaker
offering
an
intimate
listening
experience.
The sound dome provides patients under emotional crisis with a new way to regulate those emotions through music. First, Zybura leads patients through creating personalized playlists. While it might be expected that these playlists would be full of classical music and calming songs, Zybura explained in an article for TMC News that the playlists are based completely on patients' musical tastes.
"The playlists are 100 percent patient-selected and patient-preferred music, so there are often heavy metal and rap songs on these playlists. No matter what Spotify wants us to believe, there is not one type of music that is relaxing," Zybura shared in the article.
The completed playlists contain about 30 minutes of songs and can be played inside the dome at any time of day. The sound dome offers audio isolation so that those inside the dome hear the music without background noise, while those outside the dome do not hear the music. The dome gives patients a tool they can control during times of emotional distress, and Zybura helps them to pick out the songs that will most help them in these moments.
"The music selections line up with the emotional process that the patient has outlined with me and the music that they connect with most. I always recommend using music you wouldn't press skip on," Zybura said in the article. "If you are in a moment that you really need something specific from the music, you don't want to rely on the unpredictability of the radio or the next thing that comes up on the shuffle."
Zybura is not the only BW music therapy major putting music to work helping hospital patients. Samantha Sinai '12 directs the music therapy program for a children's hospital, where she uses the power of music to bring joy to patients and families.
