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Earlier this year, Maria Ionita, applied to our Musical Instrument Fund, and received a new set of instruments for her music sessions. Maria shares with us below how she hopes to use her new instruments in her work in Romania and how it will benefit her work:

Dear friends,

I would like to share with you (qualified practitioners and the ones who seek to train in working therapeutically thorough music) some joys about how working through music as therapy is facilitated by donations.

First of all, I would like to thank the wonderful Music as Therapy International team members for their constant care for their local partners from all over the world, through receiving news about music as therapy projects that take part in all corners of the world, about the charity’s activities, about results of work and also through providing material support for working through music with special children and adults, who need music to develop harmoniously.

I got to know this work technique in 2017, as a music therapist, when I was singing and I felt that I need to sing less and listen more, to use the chords on a guitar more than the vocal chords, when verbal expression is not yet formed for some children, but the sounds beyond words are heard. By taking part in the Distance Learning Programme “Music as Therapy for Young Children with Disabilities” (offered in Romania by Music as Therapy International, and moderated by therapist Monika Manases) I benefited from the one year learning to get the qualification. I noticed how important it is to reflect the child’s needs through images, sounds and musical instruments. To reflect what the child does during a music session means to have empathy, “your pain in my heart or your need in my mind”. By doing so you can offer specialized support to children with multiple challenges.

I would encourage as many people to access this course, so they can gain new ways of communicating with children.

Using musical instruments in my therapeutic work with special children helped me use the diversity of the sound. Same as in on menu, not all children like the same food, we all have different tastes. Same with the musical instruments. So the instruments received through the Instrument Fund are of real help. The instruments are like the letter of the alphabet. I received many diverse instruments, out the kindness of donors for Music as Therapy International.

Musical instruments are important for me because they get me closer to understanding the children’s needs and help in implementing an intervention based on the children’s needs rather than on personal opinion. The children “taste” only what they like, they choose the appropriate instrument for their communication and they talk through the instrument that holds a good position in the work environment, where the children are exposed to multiple sensory experiences.

I was asked to answer some questions of interest to my fellow music therapists, internationally and locally:

Why did I choose to apply for the Instrument Fund?

In Spring 2022 I noticed through the website that Music as Therapy International offers their local partners the possibility to apply for musical instruments. My instruments were old and well used and the instruments on offer were different from what I was using.

What does it mean for me to have new instruments?

Something new in the music sessions brings a boost of energy and interest for my clients and myself. New instruments also help me promote more efficiently the image of music as therapy in Romania, as the variety of instruments and sounds is larger.

What will you use the musical instruments for?

I am working with children with ages ranging from 6 years old up to teenage years, with the aim of stimulating the psychological processes and the needed skills for developing their self esteem and their social life, within a school setting. Music and the musical instruments face the children with the possibility to identify themselves, identify other’s pleasures, receive and offer respect from a social group they belong to.

Who are the clients who will use the musical instruments?

The clients are young children (one to five years old), who I work with in my private practice and also 10 children in my class – I am their teacher and also occupational therapist.

How will the instruments be received? How will they benefit your work and your clients?

This complex set of instruments help me use games specific to music therapy and apply as many suggestions from the Intensive Study Weekend held by Alexia Quin and Monika Manases in Februry 2017, as part of the Distance Learning Course.

My aim is to help special children through music-making with appropriate instruments. My wish is to promote this type of therapy as it can facilitate the successful development of cognitive and psycho-motor skills needed for the harmonious development of children and adults who at one point attend a session of music therapy.

Thank you and I wish you great successes in all your work,

Maria Ionita