When Trauma Leaves Children Speechless, Music Gives Them a Voice
- Every dollar donated is quadrupled!
- The problem
Some children cannot put trauma into words.
A child living with post-traumatic stress often cannot sit across from a therapist and explain what is happening inside. The child may not have the words for what happened, what hurts, or why the fear will not go away.
But a child who cannot speak about trauma can still express it. Given an instrument, he/she can choose a rhythm, repeat a sound, or play a melody that reflects what he/she is feeling. The instrument becomes the intermediary. The child never has to begin with this is what happened to me. The music begins the conversation.
For more than 15 years, Shiloh Israel Children’s Fund (SICF) has run music therapy in its therapy center and in regional SICF-affiliated schools. The program works. Now it is ready to grow.
- Inside a session
How a child gets from silence to speech.
This is the sequence a therapist follows, and it is why the instruments matter as much as the therapist does.
“Where words end, music gives children a voice —and a safe space to express, process, and heal.”
- First
The child chooses
No questions yet. The child picks up an instrument that appeals to him/her and begins to make sound.
- Then
The sound speaks
Loud, quiet, fast, repeated. The child plays what he/she feels instead of describing it. Nothing has to be named.
- Then
Trust forms
The therapist plays alongside the child. Music becomes a shared language, and the relationship holds.- Finally
Words return
With the feeling already in the open, the child begins to understand what happened, what hurts, and how to recover.
- The expansion
8 New Schools. 800 More Children.
SICF plans to expand music therapy into eight additional schools, each serving approximately 100 children.
The expansion will provide:
- Qualified music therapists
- Instruments for children to use
- Dedicated music-therapy rooms
- A full school year of treatment
What one year of therapy actually costs
A full year of music therapy costs $592 per child. Insurance will help cover 75%, if SICF is able to raise the remaining $148 per child. Your dollar does the work of four.
$148
- You give
$444
- Health insurance adds
$592
- One child, full school year
- From silence to expression
Saying the word fear is very different from actually hearing fear through music.
Trauma strips people of their sense of control. The creative process of making music lets a child reclaim it, rediscover his/her own strength, and feel capable again. That is an essential step on the path to healing.”
Help 800 children begin to heal.
The schools are ready. Insurance has committed most of the funding. One quarter is missing, and it is the only thing standing between 800 children and a year of treatment.
- When trauma takes a child's words away, music can bring them back.
Donations to Shiloh Israel Children’s Fund are Tax Deductible in the USA, Canada, & Israel.
Shiloh Israel Children’s Fund is a registered 501(c)(3) non-profit organization (EIN 680589341).
Shiloh Israel Children’s Fund is a registered charitable organization in Canada (#835431438RR0001) and in Israel (ע”ר 58042768).
