Music is said to have a healing power and that is true for six-year-old Sophie who accessed music therapy during treatment for acute lymphoblastic leukaemia.
Music is said to have a healing power, and that is true for six-year-old Sophie, who accessed music therapy during treatment for acute lymphoblastic leukaemia.
During her treatment, Sophie had a toxic reaction to the build-up of chemotherapy in her body, which caused her organs to shut down.
“She was critically unwell,” Sophie’s mother Christine says. “We had the emergency crash team come into the room to revive her.”
Christine says music therapy saved Sophie’s life.
“We had a music therapist sit with her for hours,” Christine says. “By the end of the session, she was interacting again, smiling again, and her heart rate had come down into a safe zone.”
Despite its success, there are only two music therapy training facilities nationwide and limited funding for the service.
“Music therapy is one of the few allied health professions that is not covered by Medicare,” Registered Music Therapist Lauren Bortolazzo says