Lara wasn’t even four years old when she was admitted to KiTZ as a patient—diagnosed with leukemia. Lara’s mother describes how music therapy helped her daughter during her treatment:
“After the shock of my daughter’s leukemia diagnosis (she was 3.5 years old), I always tried not to break down in tears in front of her. So my face was most likely always tense. Some time later (after therapy), my daughter told me that she thought we (her parents) were ‘mad at her’.... In any case, I had the impression that she was slipping away from us and becoming increasingly sad and depressed, right at the start of the six months of chemotherapy. Everything was unfamiliar and frightening—even more so for her than for us as parents. The days were exhausting, and she didn’t have any playmates around. It’s not really possible to play when you have to constantly drag the IV drip behind you, or when you’re already feeling tired and weak from the treatment anyway. In any case, I sought advice from the doctors and nurses on how to make Lara a little happier again. They recommended music therapy, so that’s what we did. Lara really blossomed after just the first session—she started to be more like her old self again.
It was nice that the therapist focused solely on her during that session.
It was nice that it broke up the boring routine at the clinic for her.
It was nice that someone asked her what she wanted to do (which song should we sing?). After all, the kids can’t choose their own treatments.
It was nice that there were individual sessions—but also a group session once a week, because a different kind of joy and dynamic emerged in the group.
It was also nice for us parents to be able to step away for a while, and then come back to find our child in a good mood."