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A Story of Music and Healing
by Claire Oppert
Book Reviewed by:A celebrated art therapist plays the cello for her patients—and offers a moving reflection on the extraordinary power of music to enrich our lives, all the way to the very end.
When Claire Oppert plays the cello, miracles happen. Children with profound autism, patients in extreme pain and distress, even people on the threshold of death smile, cry, laugh, sing and dance. "When you play, I'm not sick anymore," one man tells her. "I feel happy, I feel alive."
In The Schubert Treatment, Oppert recounts her remarkable story of healing suffering through music, alongside portraits of the many people she has helped. Born into a family of doctors and artists, Oppert trained as a classical cellist and began playing at a center for autistic youth, where she witnessed how music could connect with even the most difficult-to-reach patients. Later, she began working as an art therapist with people with neurodegenerative diseases and palliative care patients, eventually conducting clinical trials that proved the effect of her "Schubert treatment": using music as a counter-stimulation to reduce pain and anxiety during stressful procedures.
Oppert's crystalline, lyrical vignettes of the patients whose lives she has touched are punctuated with anecdotes from her own life as a musician, as well as reflections on the meaning of art and the human need for connection and creativity. Compassionate, uplifting, and deeply humane, The Schubert Treatment is a testament to the incredible power of music to heal our bodies, minds, and souls.
The interspersed backstory provides depth and captures Oppert's motivation, and as she begins to work in a more clinical setting, these sections explain the development and testing of the Schubert Treatment—the calming effect of music that reduced pain and anxiety, named after the famous Austrian composer, Franz Schubert. Oppert's writing is emotional and detailed, bringing individuals to life in only a few pages, and the inclusion of specific pieces of music at the beginning of each vignette provides a soundtrack to further connect with her work. This memoir is a heartwarming show of the unique power of music to connect and heal people at all levels of health...continued
Full Review
(556 words)
(Reviewed by Jordan Lynch).
In The Schubert Treatment, musician Claire Oppert shares her experiences with the healing power of music. A classically trained cellist, Oppert was inspired by the work of her physician family members to begin playing music in nursing homes and medical facilities. One of these facilities was the Adam Shelton Center in Saint-Denis, France, which is a medical and educational institute for young people with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Oppert's experiences there show the significant impact of music therapy for individuals with ASD, and this is supported by scientific research.
Music therapy is the use of music as an intervention to help accomplish specific, individualized goals. This form of therapy is clinical and evidence-based and is ...
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