​

Ouachita’s School of Performing Arts offers first music therapy class                                              

by Emily Hernandez

​

In your mind, imagine a stressful place and call it out . Adults might say “work” or even “home” but children from

the age range of 14-18 would say that school, the place that guarantees their newfound knowledge

and life opportunities can be considered a stressful place. Now, What's a great relief for stress? That relief can very well be therapy. Therapy is a way to get help with mental health problems or get extra support if you are going through a hard time. There are many different types of therapy, some involving art and painting, others about

talking and communicating with others as an output, but today, the most important type of therapy used by kids in high school is music therapy. 

The Beginning 

Andrew  Ghrayeb, a board-certified music therapist at Arkansas Children’s Hospital in Little Rock, Ark., teaches the course as an instructor for Ouachita’s Division of Music. Andrew earned a Bachelor of Arts in music industry from Drexel University and a Master of Arts in music therapy from Immaculata University. He joined the staff at ACH in 2014.

“Music therapy uses music to work on non-musical goals including health-related and educational,” he said. ”It’s the clinical and evidence-based use of music interventions to accomplish these goals within a therapeutic relationship by a credentialed professional.”

Rebecca Danuwar, a junior community & family services and psychology double major from North Little Rock, Ark., is enrolled in Ouachita’s music therapy course.

“One thing I love about Ouachita is you have the opportunity to join unplanned experiences. Taking this class was a chance to say yes, to learn about an area of psychology I had no prior knowledge about and broaden my education,” she said. “It's interesting to learn how music therapists assist with healing, calm babies' nervous systems and help trauma survivors acknowledge their feelings.”

She recalls that she was specifically interested in the topic of heartbeat songs, adding, “The music therapist will take a recording of a terminally ill loved one's heart and incorporate it into a song that’s special to the family. It aids in grievance as a memory for the family to hold on to.”

Psychotherapists are delighted that some schools, like Ouachita Baptist University is taking infinitive to help the problem instead of ignoring the mental health care needs of the students, like the majority of PUBLIC schools in the USA.