Kardon

Music Therapy – a Healing Story

Music therapy can be a lifeline for clients who are recovering from traumatic injuries. Heather Koelle, MT-BC, shares her case of a man who continues his journey after a shooting incident that forever changed his life – but not his love of music.

Imagine suffering a gunshot to the brain and being told days later you’d never be able to play music again. That is what happened to my client, (we’ll call him Rob) who came to me when I was working at Settlement Music School in 2005. Rob had been shot more than ten years earlier suffering a severe brain injury. Early in Rob’s recovery, his doctor saw that Rob couldn’t play any music and predicted that Rob would never play music again or walk. The doctor’s prognosis turned out to be quite short-sighted.

With a gunshot wound similar to that of Arizona Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, Rob is lucky to be alive as is the congresswoman. The bullet entered the right side of Rob’s brain, which is the improvisational part of the brain. To have the bullet successfully removed is a miracle by itself. Today, Rob is blind in his left eye and vision in his right eye is quite impaired. He went through extensive rehabilitation and is now able to walk; he can talk and is able to take paratransit to get to music lessons with me. Rob has had a difficult life. Now in his fifties, he remains single and has suffered the tragic loss of several loved ones including his fiancée.

After my initial assessment I was at a loss as to where to start with Rob and fulfilling his desire to play music. I started with bass guitar. He could read bass clef notes well and he remembered some of his fingering. But he could not improvise at all on the instrument. He had to have music in front of him at all times. Because of his poor eyesight, I had to magnify the music sheets so the left side of his brain could work to help him read music. 

Over time, Rob expressed an interest in playing the piano. He was weaker at reading treble clef music but managed fairly well. The most difficult part was trying to match his abilities to the music he liked, such as jazz and R&B. It was difficult to find music that wasn’t too elementary or too old for him to remember. Now, we are working on classical Hanon exercises for both the right and left hand, which he seems to like, but he is unable to play with both hands at this time.

Rob has always been sensitive and kind. But he can’t connect his slow progress with his brain injury and becomes depressed when his peers no longer want him to play music with them. A good bit of our time together is spent in counseling.

Since I left Settlement two years ago, Rob comes to my house via paratransit. We have developed quite a bond and he is motivated to do the best he can. I have discussed Congresswoman Giffords’ gunshot injury and how she is working her way back, as well as ABC reporter Bob Woodruff who was injured by an IED in Iraq. These cases give him hope that he will continue to improve. I have had to set very small goals for Rob and be innovative in finding music that he will succeed in playing. I am working to slowly develop his “ear” for music again and help him overcome his fear of improvising. I really think overcoming his fear will be the gateway to his success.

The important thing is Rob and I connect both musically and on a human level, which I think is more important than the music. He became my client six years ago when so many professionals said he would never do anything with his music again. I continue to encourage him to prove them wrong.

Heather B. Koelle, MT-BC has been a music therapist since 1984. She began her career working in nursing homes then with outpatient psychiatry patients. She also worked with Head Start and private clients at Settlement Music School. Heather received a Bachelor of Music from Immaculata University at age 40 while raising three children. She also earned credits toward a master’s degree in special education in 1993.

Heather is now teaching piano. Her students include two music therapy clients who she instructs in her home.