ICU – Music Therapy and End-of-Life Care Blog

There’s No Flirting in Hospice

September 17, 2015 Meghan

Actually, yes, there is. Let’s talk, for a bit, about the presence of sexuality between us, the end-of-life music therapists, and the people to whom we provide care — meaning our patients and whoever else is included when we come for our sessions. Our music therapy literature barely acknowledges that sexuality exists — almost as if music therapists don’t have sex, or sexual thoughts, and neither do our patients. But we know otherwise. Continue reading “There’s No Flirting in Hospice” →

Where is the darkness?

August 5, 2014 Meghan

We, the music therapy community, have a certain way of talking about our work in end-of-life care, and a certain way that we generally do not talk about our work in end-of-life care. End-of-life music therapy clinical work is often described as “so beautiful” and “so spiritual,” I think more so than music therapy in its other clinical iterations. We like to talk about the lightness, the tears of much-needed release, the uplifting, transcendent beauty of music in the moments leading toward someone’s death.

But that’s only a portion of the work, isn’t it? Continue reading “Where is the darkness?” →