Passion Project
Our Managing Director, Hayley Antipas, was featured in The West Australian Play Magazine talking about her road to discovering music therapy and work in the aged-care sector.
I first became interested in working in music therapy when…I was enjoying a concert at the Ellington Jazz Club. The artist was sharing a story about jazz singer Melody Gardot and how music therapy aided her recovery from a serious traffic accident. I’d never heard of a such a thing and thought, wow, I can combine my love of music with my interest in health care and helping people - this is definitely the career for me.
While working as a disability support worker…an opportunity came up to deign a music and wellbeing program for one of WA’s largest aged care providers and as soon as I started I knew I have found me place. I met so many interesting people and am constantly learning from my clients who have live, and are living rich and full lives. I even got to place music with a gentleman who has supported The Rolling Stones - that was pretty special.
I decided to take things further…after seeing mixed responses from clients in music groups. Although many clients were alert and engaged during the groups, others seemed more reserved, some fell asleep, some seemed distressed by the music and some started to cry. It really alerted me to the fact that we can all have totally different responses to the same music experience and I started to question the “benefits” of what I was doing. I began researching music therapy and found out that you actually needed to do a Master’s degree to be a Registered Music Therapist in Australia; so that’s what I did.
One of my most memorable experiences was…while on a clinical placement for my Master of Music Therapy. I was asked to see a client who has advanced dementia, was palliative and in the last days of her life. I was greeted by the woman’s granddaughter. She was understandably sad and said her grandmother hadn’t moved in days, but that I was welcome to come in and try. I started playing guitar and gently singing a familiar old song, improvising the words to include the client’s name and offer a message of safety. To my surprise (this was one of my first palliative care experiences), the woman opened her eyes and started mouthing the words to the song. Then she turned her head, puckered her lips, kissed her granddaughter and smiled. That experience will stay with me forever.
My future goal is to…build WA’s leading music and wellbeing program for aged-care and disability services. I want to help as many people as possible understand how music can be used to support their wellbeing.
