Lauren Starkey Finds Calling with Music Therapy; Completes Six-Week Study Course in Thailand
By Julie Perine on July 22, 2017 via Connect-Bridgeport.com
Lauren Starkey has always had music in her soul. She started writing songs when she was a 15-year-old student at Bridgeport High School, about the same time she began leading worship music at her church. To this day, she loves any opportunity to share her lyrics and a good rhythm to listening ears. Also having a passion for serving others, she once decided to study criminal justice. It was a good field, she said, but she felt there was something else out there for her.
After doing some soul searching – and plenty of praying – she found that niche.
Starkey will soon complete studies at West Virginia University in music therapy, using song and instrumentation to reach the human soul, healing body and mind.
She recently had an opportunity to apply those skills thousands of miles away. From May 16 through July 4, she was part of a study group which traveled to Salaya, Thailand. She said her experience proved that music is indeed the universal language and that God has led her to her life’s calling.
“Music therapy is like psychology meets music,” she said. “It’s my tool. Music comes naturally to me and it helps to put a smile on the faces of others – and to meet their needs – whether that’s motor control or emotional support.”
While in Thailand, Starkey and her fellow student music
therapists completed clinical work at Siriraj Hospital, worked with children at a local orphanage and with people of all ages at rehabilitation facilities.
“Music affects the brain and our emotions. There are certain places in the brain where music triggers different things – for example, there are pathways in the brain for communication and speaking,” she said. “When a stroke patient can’t talk any longer, music affects them. Teaching them a song to sing can help them learn to speak again.”
At the orphanage, the goal was to provide love, support and personal touch; making a connection.
“We learned Thai songs and also threw in American songs – which they requested,” Starkey said. “The language barrier wasn’t an issue once the music started.”
At Siriraj Hospital, one of the settings was pediatric post-op.
“These kids had undergone surgery and were lying in beds, some of them very disgruntled and in pain,” Starkey said. “But as the music started, kids were smiling and pain was no longer in their minds. They were thinking about us singing to them and hanging out with them.”
The singing was effective and Katy Perry tunes were in big demand, she said.
Instrumentation was also utilized in some situations.
“We would pass out shakers, drums and other instruments,” Starkey said. “The kids weren’t just watching us perform. They were a part of it. Kids, for example, with autism love all the different instruments. It’s a way to make a connection.”
Beyond the music, her six weeks in Salaya reinforced the importance of human connection. Though some of those with whom she worked spoke some English, it wasn’t their primary language; therefore, she had to hang on to their every word.
“The beautiful thing about communicating with someone of another culture is that you have to pay attention to their body language. You can’t stray off, but rather have to stay focused, which makes communicating more intriguing.”
The Thai culture is about being in the moment and enjoying the present, rather than dredging up the past or looking to the future. Combined with reinforcement that she believes she’s on the right professional path and the absolute beauty of the land, Starkey said she experienced an amazing journey.
The trip was planned through Thailand’s Mahidol University, where a Therapeutic Uses of Music training was developed in 2009 by Dr. Dena Register, who incidentally also launched the study program at WVU in 2015.
It couldn’t have all been scripted any better, Starkey explained. During that time when she was searching for a way to utilize music into her career, she said she stumbled upon an article about music therapy and discovered a program at the University of Virginia.
“But it was just too expensive to go there and I just thought that maybe music therapy could come to WVU,” she said. “So I just randomly called and was told that someone was trying to start the program there.”
That someone was Amy Rogers Smith, a music therapist at Ruby Memorial Hospital, who initiated the addition of the program at WVU and the addition of Dr. Register to the WVU teaching staff. Register is presently an associate professor of music therapy and director of the music therapy program. Starkey is nearing completion of the course.
“Music therapy is a four-year bachelor degree and the reason the Thailand trip was so important is because of the clinical hours we received and the variety of populations we worked with,” Starkey said.
She and her fellow student music therapists received seven credit hours for that work.
“When I am done with my course work and clinical training for music therapy, I will have completed 1200 supervised clinical hours in a large variety of settings. After that, I will sit for my board exam and will become a music therapist,” Starkey said.
She hopes to ultimately work in a hospital or rehab setting or perhaps even open her own business.
“I’m just really thankful to be in this program with this group of individuals,” she said. “They’re not only classmates, but we genuinely care about each other like a family and that really helps us grow in this process. Dr. Register and Amy have guided us in the right direction, but have given us that space to grow. I am grateful for this whole experience – and I’m forever changed.”
