Music therapy reduces stress for Veterans

We all love music in some form or fashion, like writing, singing or playing a tune with friends and family. It’s a way for people to share, express themselves and sometimes heal.

Alicia Chopyk, music and neurologic music therapist at Wilmington VA, talks about music, and she uses song and instruments to help Veterans in the Community Living Center.

“Music therapy is kind of like we’re all on a journey. What we look for in music therapy is how do we use music or experience it? Whether it be creating, listening or engaging in music, we recreate that to help our health and mental health in the process,” she said.

Music therapy can help Veterans suffering from memory impairments, speech disorders, head traumas and other areas. Getting Veterans to buy in to alternative techniques and letting them know it is a collaboration is only the beginning.

“I think of music as a collaboration.”

“Buy-in is everything. I think of music as a collaboration, meaning we are in this together. We are equals because I’m not going to force you to do something. You don’t want to do this? We can do something else. That’s the beauty of music therapy. You must want to do it.

“I never want to disappoint. I always want to be realistic, but I also want to help them redefine what it is to create music. Just because you can’t play the guitar the way you want to doesn’t mean you don’t have a fire to play or you don’t need that kind of musical release,” she added.

Chopyk is well versed in guitar, piano, singing, classical flute and piccolo, but she also uses her experiences with Veterans to learn other instruments they are interested in as well.

“I had a patient who loved the violin and that’s a hard instrument. I had to teach myself how to do it. But I took the approach of being honest, being upfront, saying look, you want to play violin, I’m game. However, I want you to know this is not my strong suit,” she said.

Not all music therapy is about playing an instrument or singing. Sometimes it’s just about being comfortable talking about music with someone else. She says often Veterans will engage more once they find something in common with someone through music.

“Sometimes Veterans just want to talk. One Veteran and I were talking about Johnny Cash’s life, his music and prison. What a redemption story, to be able to look back at your own sobriety, and ask yourself, can I create a redemption story through all my struggles that I’ve been through?”

“The process is cool but it’s still therapy.”

Putting music to hard topics that need to be talked about helps support oneself emotionally. It can open minds to explore, as well as help talk about experiences that are difficult. Music helps to decompress the stressors that many are looking for.

“I think of music therapy as improv. You never know what’s going to happen. I come in with a plan knowing the plan could be thrown out the window, and that’s fine. We can adjust everything based on what’s happening in the moment. That’s one of the coolest things to teach people, just be flexible in the moment.

“The learning is a really cool process, but it’s still about therapy.”