The Conservatory of Music (CoM) UPH, through its Department of Music Therapy, held a Music Therapy Workshop to discuss its benefits with the public
 Drum Circle Practice during the Music Therapy Workshop |
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The Conservatory of Music (CoM) UPH, through its Department of Music Therapy, held a Music Therapy Workshop to discuss its benefits with the public. This program was not the first time. Previously on 2016, CoM UPH has already held several Music Therapy Seminars and Workshops such as Neurologic Music Therapy and Gamelan as a Therapeutic Media.
For this seminar, the topic was ?Music Therapy to Optimize Growth and Development of Children with Special Needs?. This seminar talked about the benefits of music therapy for stunted child growth, with two experienced key speakers, Paula Chandra, MMT, a Music Therapy practitioner who previously worked in Siloam Hospital Karawaci and Brawijaya Women and Children Hospital, and also Shu Che, BMT, MA, a lecturer from Ewha Womans University of Korea. This seminar was attended by 75 participants from various backgrounds; there were students, teachers, doctors, psychologist, counselors and also parents. The workshop was held on January 25, 2017, at the MYC Building, UPH Karawaci, Tangerang. |
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Moreover, Paula also shared her experiences in becoming a therapist and she also talked about the role of music in dealing with children with special needs. According to Paula, music is able to provide comfort, control motoric system and affect the emotional condition. As an example, she explained how music can deal with the problem of children with difficulties in communication, speaking and reading. To practice reading skills, she explained the three steps of reading. First, knowing the form of words. Second, learning about the relation of the words between the child, who sees the visual form of the word and the phoneme of the word, as the child says it; this is the step where the therapist will uses music. Lastly, the child will begin visual recognition as a result of the second step. |
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At the end of the event, Shu Che asked some participants to experience becoming the children who play dumb circle. The drum circle is a game where children will gather to play the drums, which will be combined with other musical instruments such as maracas.
“the drum circle therapy is meant to train these children to follow instructions; not through words, but music. With this, children will become more sensitive towards physical signals from their teacher or therapist while playing the drum and they can enhance their social skills too,” Shu Che stated.
Monica Subiantoro, as the Coordinator of Music Therapy Department of CoM UPH, hopes that this event may enhance people’s knowledge on the importance of music in our life, especially in the growth of children with special needs. Music Therapy is offered as an intervention that is accessible for everyone, with no age limit. The music therapy clinic in UPH Karawaci offers service for children up to elders with various needs.
In the next few months, Music Therapy Department of UPH will begin a research regarding the role of music therapy in the development of children’s interaction and communication within the Autism (ASD) spectrum. Those who have any questions, or are interested in collaboration, please see Monica Subiantoro, through [email protected]. (mt/rh) |
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 Ms. Shu and Participants Trying to Play the Tambourine which has the ability to Stimulate Children’s Speech and Movement Responses |
