The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation

http://susandunn.myarbonne.com
DON'T FORGET THE MOST IMPORTANT THING

Well, school has started, and I'm sure you got all the proper school supplies. You read the thing about not letting your child have too heavy a backpack, and probably had some dissension with your teenager about appropriate clothing. Everybody had a rude awakening the first morning, lurching into the new routine. You set some new guidelines about computer use and television v. homework, and helped your youngster handle the emotional ups and downs of the new school year.

But ... did you forget the most important thing?

Having worked for many years as a fundraiser, I have a great fondness for the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, because one of the things it does is help people get healthcare for their kids.

You may think you make too much money (precious little as it is), or that it's too complicated, but the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation is here to help you.

Through their Covering Kids and Families(r) initiatives they can help you understand the SCHIP (State Children's Health Insurance Program) and Medicaid better, and get access to benefits you may not be aware of.

"Most uninsured kids are eligible for low cost or free health care," the Foundation says, and programs exist in every state and the District of Columbia that cover doctor's visits and prescriptions.

To get more information, call the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation at 1-877-543-7669 (877-KIDS-NOW).

Your child's health is the most important thing, and the most crucial part of school readiness.
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Take care of your health with ARBONNE'S DefenseBuilder, for your immune system. Arbonne has supplements, cometics, lotions, shampoo, acne treatment and other products that are good for you. What you put on your skin is absorbed into your bloodstream. Shop with me safely online at http://susandunn.myarbonne.com .

What Does it Mean if Taller People are "Smarter"?

EQ CAN MATTER 7X AS MUCH TO YOUR IQ




To take the EQ Map go http://www.essisystems.com/associates/clickthru.cgi?id=susandunn .

Many studies have shown that most CEOs, for instance, are tall. There are different theories why, including that it has to do with self esteem, social dominance, and discrimination. This article claims it's because tall people are smarter.

“As early as age 3 ... and throughout childhood, taller children perform significantly better on cognitive tests,” the authors say.

I'm citing this study and the things written about it because there are some real leaps, like the suggestion that tall people have "better health." It's also strange, since IQ has long been known to be highly heritable (genetic) that genes are never mentioned, just nurturing (nutrition). Nutrition is vital of course, but it's the software, while genes are the hardware.

They also assert that tall people "select into" higher paying jobs ... and that 4" in height = 10% more in wages. But you can't just select IN, they must agree to it -- to hire you. And there's the prejudice again, for taller people.

That someone selects into a higher paying job, doesn't mean they're smarter. There are certainly other explanations why someone who choose higher paying jobs.

The researchers sum it up: "On average, taller people earn more because they are smarter." (At least in the UK and US.)

Now Cecil on www.straightdope.com has some interesting points to make on this subject. (For his answer to "do tall people die younger?" go here: http://www.straightdope.com/columns/050422.html .

According to Cecil:

• Over the past 150 yrs. the avg. height of Europeans has increased by 8"
• Avg. height of the Chinese has increased about an inch per decade
• 14 y. o. North Korean males are about 6" shorter than their South Korean counterparts (presumably from malnutrition)

However, according to Thomas Samaras, director and senior researcher at San Diego-based Reventropy Associates (arguably the dissenting minority):

• Increased body mass and energy expenditure means faster aging
• Tall people don't live longer if you factor out confounding variables like socioeconomic status and smoking
• You die 6 months sooner for every extra centimeter of height
• British epidemiologist George Davey Smith says
  -- In developed countries taller people live longer
  -- Taller people exhibit higher death rates from a few specific causes like cancer
  unrelated to smoking and aortic aneurysm. (because they have longer aortas!)
  --Taller people are less likely to die of coronary heart disease, stroke and respiratory
  disease

This is really confusing. For one thing many studies show that cutting back on food intake prolongs life. (Weight in relation to height?)

More ...

• People with bigger brains are smarter than their smaller-brained counterparts, according to a study conducted by a Virginia Commonwealth University researcher published in the journal “Intelligence.”
• Women's neurons are packed tighter than men's (so compare men to men, and women
  to women
• Female brains have more 'networking' between the processing parts of the brain, of which they have less than male brains. Male brains have more processing power, but less interconnectivity than female brains.
• Women have bigger corpus callosi (connects 2 parts of neocortex)
• For the real scoop on male v. female, read Essential Difference; Truth about Male & Female Brain.

Well, that's just about nothing you can do about your height, and if it correleates with EQ, well, but it's the same old thing about IQ -- it isn't everything, folks.

If the opposite of "high IQ" is now "mentally retarded," it's interesting to note that the DSM now requires that a person's "adaptive functioning" also be assessed. "IQ is not enough" says the IQ Comparison site ( http://members.shaw.ca/delajara/IQBasics.html ) "Maybe the same sort of thing should be done for labeling ng someone a genius. "

Which brings us right back to Emotional Intelligence (EQ). There is a LOT you can do about your EQ, over your lifespan and that's another term for "adaptive functioning."

Take THE EQ COURSE and start increasing it. Mailto:sdunn@susandunn.cc for more information, coaching, and ebooks.

Professoinal Coaches Make 6 Figures - Growth Industry

COACHES MAKE $100,000 A YEAR - GROWTH INDUSTRY

News from Forbes.com that coaching is one of the "surprising" 6-figure jobs.

I would like to correct some of their comments.

1. "For anyone interested in white-collar work, consider one of the fastest growing career paths: the "professional coach." No, not the sports kind (who easily make six- and often seven-figure incomes), but those business and life coaches who try to provide a confidence lift to struggling entrepreneurs and aspiring novelists."

COMMENT: The thrust of the job is not to "provide a lift," and ... good coaches don't "try," they "DO"!

2. About 20% of the 10,000 registered coaches earn six-figure incomes, according to estimates from industry veterans.

COMMENT: And probably about 20% fail completely. One coach I talked with failed to make one cent in an entire year. If you want to be a coach, a good training program is important. That's why mine includes MARKETING, MARKETING MARKETING. (mailto:sdunn@susandunn.cc for more information)

3. No special degree or training is required.

COMMENT: But many coaches are highly credentialed. Among those I've certified (all over the world, there are: an ordained minister preparing to create an EQ course for his seminary; a licensed counselor with an MA; a marketing expert with 20 years who also holds a Ph.D.; an MBA who owns his own consulting firm in Europe; and my own coach, years ago, who has a Ph.D. in psychology.

Furthermore credentialing schools exist, and many coaches do have credentials. I've trained dozens of coaches worldwide since starting my program. They know the value of credentials, and wanted to get the proper preparation.

4. And while some provide specific expertise, such as those hired by large companies to train a sales staff, others rake in money from those looking for little more than a cheerleader as they open a business or try their hand at writing a book.

COMMENT: Whoa! This from Forbes? "Little more than a cheerleader"? That's not who I coach, and not what I hear from the coaches I certify. Coaches work hard for their clients, tackling clients who want help with divorce, saving relationships, leadership, emotional intelligence, ADHD, recovery, depression, making marriage work, spirituality, diversity, job interview, career change, retirement, senior care, aging, wellness, weight loss. Many coaches turn around and coach what they know best. For instance if you were serious about losing weight and wanted a coach, which would you go to (1) a Ph.D. who has always been thin, or (2) a person who has managed to take off 85 lbs. and keep it off for over 5 years? Sometimes you have to have been there yourself, and that's one of the gifts of coaching.

Coaching is indeed exploding. And I don't think it would be if all coaches were doing was "raking in money from those looking for little more than a cheerleader."

5. Christian Mickelson, who started as a small-business coach in San Diego seven years ago ... says the key to six-figure success in coaching is finding a specialty and sticking with it.

COMMENT: Absolutely and Emotional Intelligence or Wellness (I certify both) are key growth areas. In the United States we have a nation of fat, depressed, stressed-out, divorcing people. It is not hard to connect the dots on that one. Any problem a client has is likely to hinge on their EQ ... because it can matters 7x as much as IQ.

IF YOU'D LIKE TO BE A COACH, EMAIL ME and I'll send you my introductory packet on my coach certification program. Or call me and we can talk about it.

My certification program is fast, affordable, comprehensive and entirely long-distance. Training coaches worldwide.







They do not give an accurate description of coaching

Turn off Your Computer 2 Hours Before Bed
Computers are quite stimulating, especially for ADDers. Oftentimes,
you'll find yourself sitting at your computer at 3 o'clock in the
morning totally engrossed in researching something completely
random. You just can't step away from it to go to sleep, and that's
because the computer wakes up your brain. Turn the computer off two
hours before bed in order to properly wind down, and slow down, at
night.
News from

Homage to Luciano Pavarotti: A Deafening Silence

"I will bring them to their feet." Luciano Pavarotti

CAN YOU hear the silence? Luciano Pavarottihas been forced to cancel his performances for rest of this year because of the removal of a malignant pancreatic mass.

He has impressed his doctors with his physical and emotional resilience, and plans to resume in 2007. At the age of 70, he has been singing for us for over 40 years.

==="I CAN TELL YOU WHAT ARIA THE AUDIENCE LIKE. NESSUN DORMA, FROM TURANDOT." ===

Pavarotti, Nessun Dorma at Torino in 2006. Listen closely and you'll hear the audience singing along.
Warning: This one will bring you to your knees.




The silence of the media has also been deafening. The news has been spread mostly by word-of-mouth. Club Vivo Per Lei members email me daily – “I have just learned the news.”

Like the blogger who wrote, “He has been the soundtrack for much of my life,” Pavarotti is so much a part of my life, I knew almost nothing about him. He rarely grants interviews. Ah well, if one can sing, why talk?

By all reports, he isn’t a complicated man. Italian to the core, he appreciates food, women, song, family, home, and the place where he grew up. And his fans. These are the things of which he speaks.

“I can tell you which aria the audience like,” he says. “Nessun Dorma.”

I looked for his opinions about the grand themes of opera – the agony and the ecstasy – but like his fellow Italian, Verdi, he seems to distill life to its essence and keep it close to home. “For me, music making is the most joyful activity possible,” he says, “the most perfect expression of any emotion.” (See more quotes HERE.

This from a man whose voice can reach inside you, wring you inside out, and leave you weak and weeping, not knowing if its suffering or bliss; like life, the licking of honey off a thorn.

He speaks of his voice as something separate … his instrument.

“You don’t need any brains to listen to music,” he says. He has brought more people into the world of opera than anyone in history, except perhaps Verdi. As he so graciously puts it, “I might just have introduced some people to this music!”

To read about opera, he says, is like making love by mail. I followed this prescription in my own learning process. Tossing aside the worthless college textbook on opera a friend lent me, I bought CDs and attended operas.

Already familiar with Pavarotti, I’d been exploring lately -- Wunderlich, Caruso, Gedda, Bjorling; like most women, I prefer the tenors. And then the news about Pavarotti took me back home. My sister had emailed me, “That man has given me more hours of bliss than any person on earth.” The King of High Cs. In La Fille du Regiment at the Met, in 1972, he sang 9 effortless high Cs, sending the audience wild. He also holds the Guiness record for most curtain calls – 165.
“To understand his success,” writes his wife of 35 years, Adua, “and what it is about his voice that stops people in their tracks …” we must go back to his origins.

Luciano Pavarotti was born in Modena, Italy, October 12, 1935, an only child. His father, Fernando, sang tenor well until 2 weeks before his death, at 90, and Luciano plans to do the same. Modena is in a region of Italy that produces strong, broad-chested men such as can sing opera, and Luciano’s extraverted and optimistic temperament made him well-suited for the rigors of the operatic lifestyle.

He was taken to his first opera at the age of 12, but his singing career began much earlier. “At the age of 4,” he says, “I jump on the table. I am a little tenor. And I begin to sing, La Donna e Mobile.

One of the 25 most-recognized people in the world, he was the first opera star to really make use of the media. Almost his entire career is recorded. His concert in Central Park in June of ’93 was attended by 500,000, with millions more watching on TV. However, he says, “Above all, I am an opera singer. This is how people will remember me.”

“I never got to see him at the Met,” my sister writes me. Well, I will take her to see Pavarotti at the Met, when he returns in 2007. I’m part Italian, you know. I don’t know his schedule, or if he will be able to sing, or how well, but we will not go to hear him, we will go to pay him homage, and to thank him for the memories. And if that concept remains a fantasy, well you don’t need to be able to read music in order to sing.

In closing, I may have, unfaithfully, listened to other tenors, but Pavarotti was my Christmas for many years. An often exhausted working single mother, I would choose one special night. After I had put the boys to bed, I would turn on the Christmas tree lights. No dishes, no laundry that night. I would slip the Christmas video into the VCR, climb into my recliner in front of the big screen TV with slippers and hot toddy, and the tears would start streaming down my face.

Grazie, mille, Luciano Pavarotti. Please get well soon.

If you can bear to, watch him singing Nessun Dorma at Torino in 2006 (if video above does not work.) It is, indeed, the aria the audience like.

Susan Dunn, MA, Life and EQ Coach, http://www.susandunn.cc/, mailto:sdunn@susandunn.cc . Individual coaching, coach training and certification, Internet courses and ebooks around emotional intelligence for your personal and professional health. Visit Club Vivo Per Lei to learn more about opera, , and our Pavarotti page to learn more about The King of High Cs.

Photo, wikipedia.com, "fair use" for educational purposes only.

Amp Up with Meth

I coach people all over the world. I'm always interested in learning more about their countries, and in checking out their perceptions of the US.

The other day I was talking to a coach I'm training in Germany. We were just chatting, and he mentioned that beer is served in all the McDonalds in Germany. I asked him about the alcoholism rate in Germany and he said not that bad, not as bad as the UK, or Russia. I asked him what he thought the rate was in the US.

He laughed and said, "Alcoholism? When we think of the US, we think of drugs."

And meth is now the #1 choice in US.

Today's guest article outlines what you can expect ...

"Amp Up With Meth: Experience Psychotic Behavior, Paranoia, Aggression, Delusions, Stroke, Weight Loss, Brain Damage &Death"

Methamphetamine can be smoked, snorted, taken by mouth, and injected.

Meth comes in a powder form that resembles granulated crystals and in a rock form known as “ice,” which is the smokable version of methamphetamine that came into use duringthe 1980s.

The effects of methamphetamine can last up to 12 hours. Side effects include convulsions, dangerously high body temperature, stroke, cardiac arrhythmia, stomach cramps, and shaking.

During these Meth binges, users will inject as much as a gram of methamphetamine every 2 to 3 hours over several days until they run out of the drug or are too dazed to continue use.

Health Effects: The effects of methamphetamine use can include, besides addiction, psychotic behavior and severe brain damage.

Methamphetamine is highly addictive and users trying to abstain from use may suffer withdrawal symptoms that include depression, anxiety, fatigue, paranoia, aggression, and intense cravings for the drug.

Effects on the Brain: Use of methamphetamine can cause damage to the brain that is detectable months after the use of the drug. The damage to thebrain caused by methamphetamine use is similar to damage causedby Alzheimer's disease, stroke, and epilepsy. Chronic Meth users will experience out-of-control rages that result in violent behavior, anxiety, confusion, insomnia, psychotic behavior including auditory hallucinations (hearing things), mood disturbances, delusions, and paranoia, possibly resulting in homicidal or suicidal thoughts.

Psychotic symptoms can sometimes persist for months or years after use has ceased.

This is a nasty piece of work waiting for your children to discover it.

Author: Pat Graham spent many years teaching parolees in parole offices in California to recover from substance abuse, create better relationships and control their anger. Her experiences in those classrooms revealed that most of the parolees were abusing drugs at a very young age. Her ebook onthis subject covers the disastrous results of child addiction. Visit http://www.childdrugaddicts.com .

_________________________
TAKE THE EQ COURSE AND LEARN TO MANAGE YOUR EMOTIONS. You'll find it's the missing piece. Learn how to treat your brain right -- it works, if you work it.

Emotional Intelligence

YIKES!! HERE COMES LIFE

LIKE THE TIDE . . .

There is a tide in the affairs of men,
Which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune;
Omitted, all the voyage of their life
Is bound in shallows and in miseries.
On such a full sea are we now afloat;
And we must take the current when it serves,
Or lose our ventures.
From Shakespeare's Julius Caesar


Like the tide ... lives flow with heavy undercurrents, writes Melvin D. Levine in his book,
"Ready or Not, Here Life Comes"

FROM THE BOOK JACKET:

Every parent wants to know, "What will he be like when he's in his twenties?" After decades of observing children grow into young adults, Dr. Mel Levine, nationally known pediatrician and author, addresses the question of why some youngsters make a successful transition into adulthood while others do not.

In recent years, says Dr. Levine, we have experienced an epidemic of career unreadiness as too many young people begin what he calls "the startup years" unprepared for the challenge of initiating a productive life. Parents and schools often raise children in a highly structured world of overscheduled activities, meeting kids' demands for immediate gratification but leaving them unable to cope on their own. Instead of making a smooth transition into adulthood, many youngsters find themselves trapped in their teenage years, traveling down the wrong career road, unable to function in the world of work.These young people have failed, says Dr. Levine, to properly assess their strengths and weaknesses and have never learned the basics of choosing and advancing through the stages of a career.

HERE LIFE COMES
HOW STARTUP ADULTS GET UNREADY FOR CAREERS

"I do not think I knew what to expect [in the transition from school to work]. I always worked during high school; I always worked and made money. My parents made sure I went to work, but at the same time I was spoiled rotten growing up, so I never really had an idea.
It was harsh, a big change to leave the nest and get into the real world and have to take care of everything. I wasn't prepared for what things cost, the value of the dollar, the things you could and could not do."
--S.R., age 27

Lives flow with heavy undercurrents, much like the open sea; they undulate through well-timed waves, such as the preschool period, adolescence, and the so-called golden years of late life. Each arriving era brings its special challenges and opportunities, along with its unique stresses and pressures. A person may or may not be equipped to ride the next wave, to manage the requirements--obvious and hidden--of his or her latest time of life.

A particularly challenging period is the opening stages of a life at work, the school-to-career years, a time that, although rarely thought of as distinct, may be one of the roughest to traverse.
These are the startup years, a pivotal time that claims more than its share of unsuspecting victims. In fact, most people are better prepared for their retirement than they are for the startup of their working lives! For some the startup years commence at age sixteen or seventeen, upon their dropping out of high school. For others the startup may not begin until age twenty-nine, following a residency in plastic surgery.

Many individuals in and around their twenties come to feel abandoned and anguished. They start to question their own self-worth, and they are prone to some awful mistakes in their choice of career or in the ways they perform as novices on the job. They suffer from an affliction I call work-life unreadiness, which may have its onset right after high school, in college, during the job search, or during the early phases of a job or a career.

To buy the Book, go HERE.
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Study Emotional Intelligence at the same time. It all rests on your ability to function, managing emotions of yourself and others for good decisions and good judgment.
Take THE EQ COURSE(c) -- it's as helpful at 60 as it is as 20.

Subliminal Power

Emotional Intelligence

DON'T LET SOMEONE GET YOUR GOAT. Take the Difficult People Course! Here's what they're saying: "It turned my life around." "Now I see why I've been getting in trouble." "Nice not to be mad all the time."
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NOW HERE'S A GREAT BOOK FOR A DOG-DAYS-OF-SUMMER READ:

Whether you call it wisdom, charisma, emotional intelligence, or being an effective leader ... here's a book you might be interested in.

Take a look at Richard Kilburg's Executive Wisdom: Coaching and the Emergence of Virtuous Leaders. This follows and expands upon his previous, Executive Coaching: Developing Managerial Wisdom in a World of Chaos.

In the ever-challenging field of leadership, Kilburg calls that special quality “wisdom” and presents theory and practical applications for developing this in leaders via coaching. The central theme is that wisdom comes with being able to pace yourself. Slowing down allows the leader to absorb the mammoth amounts of information we get these days, to focus on what’s crucial, to make sound decisions, and to enact them successfully.

[This is EQ in Action – putting a pause between the input and the output. i.e., thinking it through. “Speeding” and “overload” are forms of emotion that need to be managed.]

Further, Kilburg emphasizes the necessity of both rational and intuitive thinking. He has a model he calls Wisdom Mapping to assist executives in this reflection.

He shows how complex this coaching is, and it takes some work to read this book, but it’s worth it.

You ‘d probably like it whether you coach or not, just for the information. You might be an executive, or want to be one one day, or work for, or with one!

Want to become an executive coach? Take the EQ Alive! Coach Training and Certification program, certifying coaches globally. We have the #1 rated program, and train the best coaches. Fast, affordable, effective and no residency. Mailto:sdunn@susandunn.cc for more information.

Why wait? Coaching is the ideal profession. Set your own hours. Work from anywhere there's phone and Internet connection. Have your freedom. Help people. It's a profession that honors age and experience, and you can't get fired from it.

Perfect for "retirement" too.

Luciano Pavarotti Has Pancreatic Cancer

The news that Luciano Pavarotti has pancreatic cancer has saddened me greatly.

For years he was the only opera singer whose name I knew. The first I really listened to. I even read his autobiography years ago and remember reading how careful he had to be about running in and out of hotels, for instance, because of having to protect his throat.

At 70 years old, his voice has lasted a long time, and he has lived longer than many great singers -- Franz Wunderlich, Mario Lanza, even Jussi Bjorling.

Here's what one blogger wrote:

"He's only 70. I've read that he was difficult, unfaithful... add your characterization here. But, he had the most beautiful voice. And, it filled my home. If I think aobut it, his music was the soundtrack to many of my important memories of the past 20 years.

I remember days when all the doors in the house stood wide open, and our stereo speakers blared into the yard while my husband gardened, my children ran in and out and I worked on my thesis. I remember hand stitching seed pearls from one of her great-great-grandmother's dresses onto the lace of my niece's wedding gown, while sipping chianti. (Living dangerously that.) I remember lonely and quiet evenings alone when his voice, soft and rich as fine satin, wrapped itself around me and filled the emptiness.
A voice for every feeling.
I wish him well as he confronts this illness. I think it's time for a little Pavoratti. So good with morning coffee."

A friend of mine wrote, "That man has given me more happiness than any person on earth."

This reminds me of something written about Wagner. It was written by a Jewish gentlemen, and his family has saved the letter all these years. He said that Wagner borrowed money and didn't pay it back, took other men's wives, and ... but he wrote Tristan and Isolde. He asks his family to forget about him, when he is old and bitter, perhaps, and to remember Wagner and Tristan.

Greatness is so hard to come by.

Another blogger writes: "The recording of Verdi's Rigoletto with Pavarotti, Joan Sutherland and Sherrill Milnes was one of the first opera recordings I bought. It was a box of cassettes-- that's how long ago it was. It's an oldish recording, so the singers are in their prime, and Pavarotti's Duke is just amazing-- he sounds like liquid fire. Listening to that Rigoletto helped get me into opera."

A voice like that doesn't come along very often.

Godspeed, Pavarotti. Get well. We're all pulling for you. For all the hours of bliss you have given us.

Enjoy!
Pavarotti singing Idomeneo by Mozart

Pedicures Are Deadly

EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE MEANS USING ALL YOUR BRAINS

It's balanced-brain thinking.

It's whole-brain functioning.

It's the interface between emotions and thinking that allows for better decision, good judgment, and a better life. Ask the people who have taken my course!

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How Deadly are Pedicures?

Two people are known to have died from infections they got from commercial pedicures. The woman in California was known to have lupus (which compromises the immune system), but the woman who died in Texas from a staph infection she got after her heel was allegedly cut by a pumice stone (and then soaked in infected water) was in good health beforehand. The staph attacked her heart and she died of a heart attack.

Health officials who tested the water in spas and salons in California found 97% of them infected.

The answer? The officials say the consumer must beware, and, as one of them said, "Use your common sense. If the place looks dirty [no matter whether expensive or cheap] walk out."

Now there is Emotional Intelligence in action. This is using your Intuition, an EQ competency.

Want to increase yours?

Take the EQ Foundation Course -- www.susandunn.cc/EQcourse.htm. Get some coaching -- often one or two sessions will do.

Email me at sdunn@susandunn.cc NOW. Don't wait!

You can also increase your resistance to bacteria and infections with ARBONNE'S SUPPLEMENTS. Check out the supplements, and shop with me safely online at http://susandunn.myarbonne.com . Your immune system is your first line of defense against bacteria (like staph), and your ONLY line of defense against viruses. Build now for the coming winter season. Get well and stay well with ARBONNE.

Emotional Intelligence

"Stop resisting. Assimilate events the first time they occur."
- Thomas Leonard

If you think you're doing this, or not sure, email me for a coaching session -- 210-496-0678. You can save yourself a lot of grief by not repeating negative things. Sometimes we do this to try and get it right the next time, and this never works. It was wrong the first time, and will be wrong every time.

Emotional Intelligence

A GUEST ARTICLE TODAY ON THE POWER OF MUSIC.
Visit our website Club Vivo Per Lei/I Live for Music and find out more. And please join. It's free, of course. Our gift to you.

"Music To Your Ears - The Healing Way," by Eric Cho

Shakespeare once said, "If music be the food of love, play on".

The power of music over the human mind is enormous, and that’s putting it lightly. Music therapy is the use of music for therapeutic purposes by a trained professional. The idea of using music as a healing influence dates back to the time of Plato and Aristotle. In the modern world, music for therapy came to the fore when musicians played for war veterans to cure them of physical and emotional trauma. Since many of the patients responded well, nurses and doctors began requesting the services of musicians for therapy.

Soon, music therapy became recognized as an effective and scientifically-backed mode of treatment. The first music therapy degree program ever was established in 1944 in the State of Michigan, U.S.

A trained music therapist gauges the emotional well-being, physical health, social functioning and cognitive skills through the patient’s responses to music. Once the assessment is complete, the practitioner designs music session for individuals or groups. The therapeutic music is prepared based on client needs and uses music improvisation, song writing, lyric discussion, imagery and musical performances.

Using music for therapy can be a very powerful way to reach children and adolescents. Elderly people and people with developmental and learning disabilities, people suffering from Alzheimer’s disease and age related problems and people in acute pain also benefit from music therapy. Music therapy is a powerful way to help people express their feelings.
Professional music therapists are usually found in rehabilitative facilities, psychiatric hospitals, medical hospitals, drug and alcohol programs, nursing homes, correctional facilities, schools and private practice.

Some people mistakenly believe that a patient needs to have some particular musical ability to benefit from therapy. There is no one particular style of music that is more therapeutic than the rest. Any style of music can be equally effective. Any person can be a patient. The patient’s background, needs and history help determine the type of music used.

Even healthy people can make use of the healing powers of music. Listening to or making music, playing or drumming can greatly reduce stress and improve productivity. Research shows that music is a vital support for physical exercise. Music therapy is even said to assist labor and delivery.

In hospitals, music therapy is used to alleviate pain and is often used in conjunction with anesthesia or pain medication. A question that is often raised is why use music if anesthesia does the same thing? Music helps because it dissolves emotional barriers and elevates the patient’s mood. Music also counteracts depression, calms and even sedates patients. In a nutshell, music helps reduce muscle tension and brings on a deep and satisfying relaxation. [Editor's Note: It doesn't have any bad side effects, and all medications have bad side effects!]

Since 1994 music therapy has been identified as a reimbursable service in the U.S. Music therapy is considered ‘active treatment’ when it meets the following criteria:

- Is prescribed by a physician
- Is reasonably necessary for the treatment of the injury or condition
- Is based on a documented treatment plan
- Is showing some sort of result in the patient
The future of music therapy is indeed very promising as more and more research supports the effectiveness of music against diseases like Alzheimer’s and chronic pain.

About The Author: http://www.methodsofhealing.com