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Lora Braun and Lisa Solnik have a lot in common. Both
are musicians; Braun is a voice major and flautist, and Solnik plays piano.
Both studied psychology, and both want to use their musical gifts to help
others.
They are the first graduates of Canadian Mennonite
University’s music therapy program. “It was exciting to be
involved in the first music therapy program on the prairies,” says
Solnik.
“I feel like a pioneer,” adds Braun.
Braun, of Morden, Manitoba, was working as a pharmacy
technician when she made a decision. “I wanted to do something
different with my life,” she says. Having always enjoyed music, she
wanted “to find a way to use music in everyday life to help
people.” Music therapy fit the bill. “Music therapy is a
structured way to help people use music to improve their quality of
life,” she said. During her studies, Braun was able to see how music
can make a difference, as she did practicum assignments in local hospitals.
“For people with dementia, it can help them recover old memories when
they hear familiar songs. For people who have had strokes, it can aid with
mobility and provide exercise, as they play rhythm instruments,” she
says.
For Solnik, who hails from Winnipeg, music therapy is
a great way to use her passions and talents. “I enjoy music, but not
performing,” she says. “This allows me to use music in a way
that involves and helps others.” During one of her practicum
assignments at a hospital, she played piano with a woman with severe memory
loss. As they played together, old memories of piano lessons and playing
the instrument were reawakened. “All those lost memories came back
while we played,” she says. Another time she worked with a woman who
had lost the ability to speak. But when she played an old familiar tune,
the woman was able to sing a whole phrase of the song. “It unlocked a
different neural path,” she recalls. A very meaningful experience
occurred when she led family members in singing at the bedside of a dying
woman. “We sang a lot of hymns and choruses,” she says.
“It was a very powerful experience for everyone there.”
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Solnik and Braun received their Bachelor of Music
Therapy degrees in April. For both, it was important that their teacher,
Jim Wiebe, has also practiced music therapy for many years. “Jim
could tell us what worked and what didn’t, based on his own
experiences,” says Solnik. “It’s not just theoretical
knowledge,” adds Braun.
Following graduation, both will do a six-month
internship, after which they will receive accreditation as music therapists
from the Canadian Association for Music Therapy. “It’s a
limitless profession,” says Solnik. “It’s as wide open as
the imagination of the music therapist.”
CMU’s music therapy program is the only one in
the prairie provinces, and one of only six in Canada. The goal of the
program is to teach students to use music to promote positive changes in
the mental, physical, emotional or spiritual functioning of individuals and
groups.
Options Fall 2007
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