Professionals Join Teams to Back Music-Based Healing Awareness
On June 25th, ITA Executive Director Jenni Rook and Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine Professor Dr. Borna Bonakdarpour teamed up for Tuning Into the Musical Mind — an educational event filled with cutting-edge dialogue that addressed the capacity for the human brain to respond constructively to music. The event featured individual presentations from Rook and Bonakdarpour that affirmed neurologic effects of music on the human brain and introduced music as a device of therapy.
Dr. Bonakdarpour, an expert in the field of Behavioral Neurology, discussed the neurobiological aspects of language and how they respond to the music-based interventions. After Dr. Bonakdarpour earned his Doctor of Medicine from Tehran University of Medical Sciences, his doctoral research on aphasia therapy using music received international acclaim. He was lead to Northwestern for a research fellowship in aphasia rehabilitation and neuroimaging of language. The content of his presentation was inspired by his work in aphasia and dementia research.
For her presentation, Jenni Rook spoke about the power and impressive performance record of music therapy, the clinical application of music within the context of a therapeutic setting as a process of remediation. Rook discussed how music-based interventions can be customized to fit each patient’s unique needs, thus permitting the modality an unusual rate of success. Jenni is a Board-Certified Music Therapist and Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor with advanced training in Neurologic Music Therapy. She has over 12 years of experience as a clinician, supervisor, speaker, and author on topics in music therapy. Rook’s presentation reflected on scientific principles of music therapy that she prioritizes in her practice.
The program took place at the Music Institute of Chicago’s Nichols Concert Hall in Evanston, Illinois, and was complete with a musical performance of its own. Clara Takarabe of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and Los Angeles Philharmonic performed viola pieces for the night’s attendees accompanied by Bonakdarpour at the piano.
Tuning Into the Musical Mind was a collaboration between ITA and Northwestern University Cognitive Neurology and Alzheimer Disease Center with the intent to fuse academic research and clinical expertise to better help individuals with neurologic and brain disorders. The event was an great success, bringing in over $1,000 in proceeds for ITA’s financial aid program.
To learn more about upcoming events benefiting the Institute for Therapy through the Arts, visit our Events page at www.itachicago.org/events.