Aviano EFMP hosts music therapy camp Published June 30, 2014 By Cheryl Harrison 31st Force Support Squadron AVIANO AIR BASE, Italy -- The halls of Aviano Elementary School were filled with the sounds of music June 16 thru 20, as toddlers to teens sang, played instruments and enjoyed the benefits of music. The Airman and Family Readiness Center's Exceptional Family Member Program held a weeklong camp for children enrolled in EFMP. Instructor, Sara Dee, a music therapist, was brought to Aviano for the special week-long event. Dee used her music therapy degree to design a program for children that covers the principals of music and song-writing. The music therapy camp helps kids with special needs to enjoy social skills, peer bonding and creative expression. Megan Trifilo, an occupational therapist as well as a spouse here at Aviano, assisted Dee with the camp. The pair uses the music camp to demonstrate how music can offer an outlet for emotions, energy and conflict for different age groups. According to Dee, "Music is a tool many children grasp easily, whether they are little ones or teens. Watch a baby sway when music is playing. It truly is an international language all ages can understand." Dee has had plenty of experience in the field of music therapy. She owns her own business in Ventura County, Calif., with music therapy offered to her clients. Music therapy is an established health profession in which music is used within therapeutic relations to address physical emotional, cognitive and social needs of individuals. Through musical involvement in the therapeutic context, clients' abilities are strengthened and transferred to other areas of their lives. Music therapy also provides avenues for communication that can be helpful to those who find it difficult to express themselves in words. The children involved with the music camp all appeared to have grasped expressing themselves on the first day of camp. Toddlers moved to the "hello" song and had the opportunity to strum a guitar as they said goodbye. Children 5- to 8-years old, enjoyed duplicating the sound of soft rain or a thunderstorm using percussion instruments like drums. Then older children 9- to 12-years old, rotated as leaders, demonstrating softer and louder sounds when it came to producing music. Dee and Trifilo were accepted by the children and spoke to their groups in sing song voices, and allowed the children to express themselves with the lessons of the day. The fun-filled week culminated on June 21 with a performance for family and friends in the multi-purpose room of the Aviano schools. Cake and juice was served and the children performed, demonstrating what they learned at camp. For further information about EFMP at Aviano, call the AFRC at 632-5407.