“Music Therapy Has Given Me Hope”: Alida’s Story

Alida Nesbitt was born prematurely with an underdeveloped GI tract but had, what seemed to her, a very normal childhood. Alida told me, “I dealt with pain my whole life but I thought it was normal to be in pain all the time.” When Alida was 16 she was running a cross-country race and passed out, fell, and hit her head. “The concussion triggered many diseases that were lying dormant in my body.” Alida spent years trying to receive the medical help she needed but was told over and over that it was all in her head and she only suffered from anxiety. Finally, after 4 years, she began to receive the diagnosis’ she needed to get help.

Alida was diagnosed with Global GI Dysmotility, POTS, Hypermobility, and many vascular compression disorders. Alida has undergone many procedures over the span of many years throughout her medical battle and all of this has taken a serious toll on her mental health. She told me “There are no cures for my conditions, only symptom management.” Though, through all of this, Alida is finding a purpose in her pain.

Alida began having music therapy sessions in the Sophie’s Place at Primary Children’s Hospital in Salt Lake City, Utah. This not only helped her physically and emotionally weather her long hospital stays, but also sparked a desire to pursue music therapy as a career, hoping to share with others the treatment that has helped her so much. “I have had nothing but good experiences with music therapy,” Alida shared. “I started receiving music therapy just before I started my music therapy program in college. I was a patient receiving care while I was a student learning to be a music therapist, I have a unique perspective because of that. Music therapy allows me to express my emotions and provides a distraction from my pain. Music therapy has also provided me with coping skills before painful procedures. Music therapy has given me hope when all hope seems lost.”

“Sophie’s Place became a safe place for me,” Alida continued. “The hospital is scary and traumatizing for anyone, especially kids and teens. When I walk into Sophie’s Place, the stress and the pain from the hospital disappears.” She expressed that after many difficult conversations and procedures and pain, going to Sophie’s Place provided her with something to look forward to. Alida underwent a kidney autotransplant that came with many complications and a need for much rehabilitation but the opportunity to have a music therapy session in Sophie’s Place afterwards helped her push through the pain. “Sophie’s Place is a room of healing and comfort for me. I can forget about the hard things while I’m here.”

Her love of music, interest in the medical field, and a desire to help patients who have had similar experiences to her, made music therapy the perfect career path for Alida. She recalled times when she was very sedated and weak during her hospital stays but her music therapist came and sang to her as well as other times when she needed a more hands-on distraction and so they played and even wrote music together.

“Music therapy changed my life” she expressed “and I want to help kids and teens just as I have been helped.”

(Alida performing "You Will be Found" from Dear Evan Hansen at the 10-year-anniversary of Sophie's Place at Primary Children's Hospital)

Alida auditioned for a very competitive music therapy program at Utah State University and was accepted. She began her education there in 2019. Alida has faced many challenges on her path to becoming a music therapist, however. Due to her extended health complications Alida was forced to put her music therapy education aside for a time after a valiant fight to stay enrolled. She told me that this was a devastating loss but that she did not give up on her desire to get an education. She is now a senior in the psychology program at USU with minors in music and human development and begins her graduate program in music therapy next fall. Alida’s educational journey has been different than she had hoped it would be but she is dedicated to and passionate about becoming a music therapist, no matter where that journey takes her.

“Music has saved my life. My journey has not been easy and will not be easy. I wanted to give up so many times but music has helped me and been there for me and it helped me realize that the world still needs me here.”