Since 1994, the Louis Armstrong Center for Music and Medicine (LACMM) at Mount Sinai Beth Israel in New York has been providing music therapy clinical services both in the hospital and in the community. By using music within the therapeutic relationship, the team at LACMM is able to address the many physical, emotional, cognitive, and social needs of patients. The music therapists at LACMM work with patients at all stages of their life, from premature infants to patients recovering from surgery to end-of-life care, making it an ideal complement to traditional medical treatment. As Dr. Joanne Loewy, Director of LACMM, explains “We are truly in-tune with our patients!”
Each year, International Arts & Artists partners with LACMM to provide J-1 visa sponsorship for international fellows and graduate interns participating in the Center’s educational and training program. LACMM’s program focuses on specialist-level care, giving fellows and interns the opportunity to develop professional skills including the principles of music therapy assessment, ethics, treatment planning, evaluation, and more.
We recently caught up with John Mondanaro, Clinical Director at LACMM, to learn more about LACMM, its training programs for future music therapists, and its experience working with international exchange visitors. “International Arts & Artists has been tremendous resource for talented individuals wishing to participate in all that the LACMM has to offer,” John told us. “As a grant funded program, the LACMM’s ability and desire to host such individuals has come to fruition more fluidly with the International Arts & Artists’ capability to provide sponsorship unique to each situation.”
What’s a day in the life of an exchange visitor at the LACMM like?
A day in the life of one of our exchange visitors can begin with a didactic seminar focusing on current methodology, experiential of clinical intervention, and trial within a lab-format. Clinical supervision with a designated licensed and board-certified music therapist on staff follows. Here the exchange visitor is provided with confidential space in which to process feelings, challenges, and successes he or she may be experiencing. The day can unfold as spontaneously as one might expect in a busy acute care medical setting in one of the busiest cities in the world. Clinical observation and application of learned interventions; participation in various research protocols in which the exchange visitor is either gathering data and questionnaires, or providing the music based intervention under investigation; sending time in outreach efforts, are all possibilities. The LACMM’s involvement in cultural initiatives and staff wellness offerings may draw the exchange visitor into the provision of such offerings. There is often time built into the day for exchange visitors to read from the LACMM’s library of our own publications, or visit the medical library to expedite literature review on a clinical phenomenon that the LACMM is studying. Additionally, exchange visitors are encouraged along with our interns and fellows to practice musical skills on the assortment of instruments that we maintain in our inventory. An ending of the day may be spent in attendance to one or our outreach efforts with marginalized populations such as a community choir for stroke survivors or a support group for individuals living with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, asthma, or HIV.
What are some of your favorite things about hosting exchange visitors?
LACMM has had a growing presence internationally for 25 years, because our model of Medical Music Psychotherapy across the lifespan is unique in the world. Dr. Joanne Loewy and the LACMM team of therapists remains at the cutting edge of research and clinical practice, which draws much attention from music therapy students and professionals worldwide. The ability to share what we are growing with exchange visitors is a privilege that is made possible by the sponsorship opportunities afforded by International Arts & Artists. That many of our trainees will build programs in their own countries gives us tremendous pride, because at the center of such programming is the wellness and care of others.
What are some of the cultural activities that exchange visitors participate in during their program?
New York City offers a wide range of cultural events, some of which have affiliations with the LACMM. Our work with Lincoln Center in a program for adults with Alzheimer’s stands among many opportunities for the visitors’ exposure and immersion in this rich art scene. The LACMM has hosted visits with such music celebrities as Jon Batiste to the inner city schools of New York to promote music therapy with Asthma; conducted wellness groups and workshops with the Actor’s Fund; hosted departmental visits with opera star Renee Fleming, Grammy winner, Cheryl Bentyne of the Manhattan Transfer; and has welcomed and honored at our annual What A Wonderful World Gala, such celebrities as Jon Hendricks, Pete Seeger, Levon Helm, Dionne Warwick, Vanessa Williams, Dave Brubeck, Jon Batiste, Roy Haynes, and Bernie Williams.
What is the value to LACMM in hosting international visitors?
The LACMM receives from its visitors and trainees in the same spirit in which it gives: sharing the gold and planting seeds for future music therapy programs that will benefit people around the world. Cultural diversity stands at the forefront of healthcare initiatives, and the LACMM endorses music and music therapy as the treatment modality that unabashedly meets these initiatives because nothing like music can both viscerally engage and also transcend cultural barriers. By hosting candidates from around the world, we inspire this philosophy in others.
Learn more about IA&A's programs for music therapists and start planning your unique exchange experience!