Music Therapy for People with Dementia Offered at Holy Mountain Retreat Center

Since early September, Music and Memory at Holy Mountain has provided music therapy for people with dementia and their caregivers. The program’s weekly sessions are held at the Holy Mountain Retreat Center on the property of the Franciscan Friars of the Atonement at Graymoor, in Garrison in Putnam County.    

The music therapy, a sing-along experience, is described as “designed for people living with dementia and the caregivers who love them…[Participants] will experience comfort, connection, and community through songs, rhythm, and movement,” organizers said in promotional material. The instruments include the accordion, guitar, piano, and percussion.    

Organizers said the program is led by a music therapy specialist from the Institute for Music and Neurological Function (IMNF), which is based in Croton-on-Hudson in Westchester County. The free, hour-long sessions, which began Sept. 2, are offered every Wednesday morning at 10:30.  

A supportive environment  

“It’s a wonderful time for people with dementia and their care partners to be together in a positive, supportive environment, in professional therapeutic hands,” Kacey Morabito-Grean, executive director of the Holy Mountain Retreat Center, told The Good Newsroom. “We’re happy to be able to offer that for free…It’s very important [to] the friars’ mission of At-One-Ment – reaching out to the community, that all may be one. They’re the Friars of the Atonement, but their mission is At-One-Ment. They want the community to know that there’s peace waiting for them here on this mountain.”    

She and others at the retreat center “have heard from many caregivers who are so excited to be able to bring their loved one here, no money, no pressure, no worries about registration; everyone’s welcome to just walk in and have a seat in the music room and spend some joyful time together. Usually, the music brings back many memories that can help people just sing along.” 

Morabito-Grean noted that registration is encouraged, “but we allow people to walk in if they want to, because if they wake up and their loved one is having a good day, we want them to be able to walk right in and partake in the program. [Registration] isn’t always necessary for that reason…They can come once or as many times as they want.” She said the program can be offered for free because of grants obtained by the IMNF. 

“She’s a pretty big deal, so we’re really happy to have her here,” Morabito-Grean said of Dr. Concetta “Connie” Tomaino, director of IMNF, who leads the music therapy sessions. “She has other musicians (volunteers) who join her as well.” 

Morabito-Grean and Tomaino both attend Sunday Mass at the Our Lady of Atonement Chapel on the Graymoor site, and it was through that acquaintance that Music and Memory at Holy Mountain was born.  

The music therapy expert  

Tomaino, who holds a clinical doctorate in music therapy, said that for people who are experiencing memory problems, singing familiar songs “helps stimulate areas in the brain responsible for recall, word retrieval, and associations with personal history.”  

“Sharing personal stories in association with music helps support a sense of self and connection to important moments in one’s life,” Tomaino noted. “For the care-partner, this program provides the opportunity to share positive experiences with their loved ones as well as build connections with the other members of the program. Because social isolation can exacerbate memory issues, participation in group programs like this can help maintain mental function.”  

She and volunteers perform mostly popular songs from the ’50s through ’80s, plus folk songs and Broadway tunes. “Almost all the song requests come from the participants,” added Tomaino, noting that participants often request songs that are meaningful to them. She said song requests have included “Let it Be,” “Here Comes the Sun,” “With a Little Help from My Friends,” and “If I Had A Hammer.”  

Eric Glickman, 63, is a caregiver who has attended several of the music therapy sessions with Stephen Hersh, 69, a close friend who has Alzheimer’s. Glickman lives a short drive away from Hersh within Westchester and helps Hersh’s wife, Dana Levenberg, in caring for her husband. Glickman and Hersh were creative partners in advertising for 30 years.  

“He’s a close friend, and he’s also a loved one,” Glickman said of his longtime friend. “The experience we’ve had going to that music therapy is actually fantastic. It’s a lot of fun for us. We look forward to it [every time] …Stephen feels very energized by being there. He thinks it’s a lot of fun. He almost always turns to me at some point during the experience and will say, ‘This is good for my brain.’ Sometimes it even gets emotional, like when we sang ‘What A Wonderful World.’”  

Hersh’s wife noted, “The music therapy experience was great for both me and Stephen. He lights up and loves to sing along with the songs – he also likes to dance sometimes. He responds so positively to the music. I knew so many of the songs too, and I loved to sing along and watch him just be so happy and engaged.”  

The Holy Mountain Franciscan Retreat Center at Graymoor is located at 40 Franciscan Way, Garrison. For more information, visit Holy Mountain Franciscan Retreat Center.