FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
APRIL 5, 2011

VOICES OF VALOR™

A NEW PROGRAM FOR VETERANS TAPS INTO THE HEALING POWER OF MUSIC

Music For All Seasons ™ is pleased to announce the launch of its "Voices of Valor™" pilot project, made possible through a major grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

The Voices of Valor™ project will provide an opportunity for service men and women returning from Iraq and Afghanistan to use music to help them reintegrate into civilian life. This is a pilot project bringing small groups of veterans together for an eight-week program working with a professional singer/songwriter and a psychology mentor. Sixteen eight-week programs are planned over the next twelve months. During each session, the participants will learn to use music to address the stress and trauma that are significant impediments for many veterans readjusting to civilian life. Through the course of the sessions, the veterans will produce new song lyrics, and will create, perform, and record their original songs. The veteran participants in this program do not need any previous musical training or experience.

The goals of the project include: the creation of musical works, self-empowerment, stress reduction, depression control, and group support. The pilot project will take place on the Rutgers University campus in New Brunswick, NJ. Evaluations will be conducted by psychologist Dr. Raymond Hanbury, New Jersey State Clinical Director for the Trauma and Disaster Response Team, and a mental health officer with the National Disaster Medical System in the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services. "It is understood that there is a bond between humans of all ages and music. It is also a well known fact that there is a psychological healing power of music given that it can rewire parts of the brain. It stimulates the brain, influences emotions and actions, lowers stress, enhances relaxation and taps into memories and emotions. Providing returning Veterans the opportunity to be creative, to use melody, harmony, words and rhythm to tap into this component of their lives can only prove to be a helping and healing process for their reintegration of all aspects of their lives and their families." states Dr. Hanbury.

Music For All Seasons™ (MFAS), now in its 20 th season, is active in five states-New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, and California. Bringing live, interactive musical programs to a wide range of institutions including children's hospitals, retirement homes, shelters for victims of domestic violence, juvenile detention centers, nursing homes, medical centers, and hospices, MFAS aids the physical, mental, and spiritual healing processes. MFAS brings together a wide variety of people and musical styles, and provides opportunities for professional artists to serve special audiences. Music For All Seasons' distinguished Board of Advisors, headed by acclaimed British cellist Steven Isserlis, includes twenty-two internationally renowned artists. MFAS is supported by corporations, foundations, and individuals, as well as the New Jersey State Council on the Arts, the Pennsylvania State Council on the Arts, and the National Endowment for the Arts. Music For All Seasons is an active member of the international Society for the Arts in Healthcare. Brian Dallow, Executive Director of MFAS, is co-chair of the newly formed Alliance For Arts and Health New Jersey.

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation focuses on the pressing health and health care issues facing our country. As the nation's largest philanthropy devoted exclusively to improving the health and health care of all Americans, the Foundation works with a diverse group of organizations and individuals to identify solutions and achieve comprehensive, meaningful and timely change. For more than 35 years the Foundation has brought experience, commitment, and a rigorous, balanced approach to the problems that affect the health and health care of those it serves. When it comes to helping Americans lead healthier lives and get the care they need, the Foundation expects to make a difference in your lifetime. For more information, visit www.rwjf.org.

For further information about this program, please contact Ruth Southland at 908 322-6300. www.musicforallseasons.org.

Selected References.

"Veterans often learn best from someone who has been there. The feeling of being unlike non-veterans - in terms of the experiences with combat and loss -can hamper individual treatment. Group sessions with veterans can offer support and understanding to each other that may lead to better outcomes." The National Alliance on Mental Illness. Depression and Veterans Fact Sheet. Ken Duckworth, M.D., October 2009.

"It's like a freedom to say what I want and that it will be heard... By expressing it musically, it is totally different. It's a freedom that brings an order to the thoughts." Therapeutic Songwriting and Complex Trauma/ ƒcriture thŽrapeutique de chanson et traumatisme complexe. Hatcher, Jeffrey, Canadian Journal of Music Therapy, 2007

"Unless treated, post traumatic stress disorder, depression, and traumatic brain injury can have far-reaching and damaging consequences. Individuals afflicted with these conditions face higher risks for other psychological problems and for attempting suicide. They have higher rates of unhealthy behaviors - such as smoking, overeating, and unsafe sex - and higher rates of physical health problems and mortality. Individuals with these conditions also tend to miss more work or report being less productive. These conditions can impair relationships, disrupt marriages, aggravate the difficulties of parenting, and cause problems in children that may extend the consequences of combat trauma across generations. There is also a possible link between these conditions and homelessness. The damaging consequences from lack of treatment or under--treatment suggest that those afflicted, as well as society at large, stand to gain substantially if more have access to effective care." Tanielian T and Jaycox LH, eds., Invisible Wounds of War: Psychological and Cognitive Injuries, Their Consequences, and Services to Assist Recovery, Santa Monica, Calif.: RAND Corporation, MG-720-CCF, 2008, 492 pp.

"By talking or writing about previously inhibited experiences, individuals translate the event into language. Once it is language-based, people can better understand the experience and put it behind them." Opening Up, The Healing Power of Expressing Emotions - James W. Pennebaker, PhD. The Guilford Press, 1997.