Music therapy program founder honored

The president of Healing Notes, a nonprofit organization that promotes music therapy for hospitalized children, will receive a prestigious award this week from the American Music Therapy Association.

Allison Barkley of San Diego, who founded Healing Notes, will be honored Nov. 13 during the association’s five-day national conference at the Town and Country Resort & Convention Center.

The Advocate of Music Therapy Award cites nonprofessionals who have contributed significantly to the field.

Healing Notes uses music therapy to promote the emotional, mental, physical and spiritual well-being of hospitalized children and their parents. Its programs help young patients in the cancer and medical-surgical units at Rady Children’s Hospital in San Diego and kids and family members at the Ronald McDonald House next door.

Barkley, a makeup artist in the entertainment industry, initiated the first Healing Notes program at Rady in 2004 after seeing how music therapy helped her newborn son, hospitalized then with a blood disorder.

She was nominated for the award by Dr. Barbara Reuer, director of the nonprofit Resounding Joy Inc., a similar nonprofit agency, who also runs her own private music therapy business, MusicWorx of California. Both are based in Carmel Valley.

“Allison joined forces with MusicWorx implementing the first music therapy program in San Diego specifically targeting hospitalized children,” said Reuer, a music therapist, in her nomination letter. “If it were not for Allison’s persistence and vision, over 2,500 children would not have received free music therapy services.”

For information about Healing Notes, phone (619) 846-6359 or go to http://www.healingnotesinc.org.

By: Ron Ham