Chords for Change is a community-based musical program with partnerships throughout Northern California. We use professional music therapy to help participants recover from the adverse effects of domestic violence, sexual violence, and homelessness.

We work in small therapy groups to build a fun, non-invasive atmosphere which builds community, important social support networks, and promotes empowerment through music.

Our Director of Music Therapy, Jamie Blumenthal MA, MT-BC works closely with shelter management to design a program tailored to meet the needs of their clientele.

Chords for Change provides these services at no cost to the host organization. We are a self-funded organization and believe that the financial burden of bringing music to those in need should not be placed on existing advocate groups. Our funding comes from private and commercial donors as well as community benefit concerts.

Chords for Change is an opportunity to improve the lives of countless people.

Music therapy is a type of therapy that uses music as its medium to achieve specific improvements in peoples lives. Music Therapy differs from simply stating that music is therapy, in that it is implemented by a certified music therapist in order to obtain targeted results. There are a variety of different techniques used by music therapists, which differ based on the goal of the session.

Chords for Change using a variety of approaches in order to achieve its goal of empowering women to reclaim their voices and their lives. Extensive research on the physiological effects of music has proven that music can be a positive force for change in a person’s life. For example, Jennifer Jones studied the emotional changes experienced when chemically dependent patients were exposed to music[1]. In her study, she noted “Music therapy significantly increased feelings of acceptance and joy/happiness/enjoyment and significantly reduced feelings of guilty/regretful/blame and fear/distrust.”

Another promising experiment showed that music therapy decreased the anxiety levels of abused women in shelters[2]. Scientific experimentation has also shown that listening to music decreases the perception of pain[3].

[1] Jones JD (2005) A Comparison of Songwriting and Lyric Analysis Techniques to Evoke Emotional Change in a Single Session with People Who are Chemically Dependent. Journal of Music Therapy: Vol. 42, No. 2 pp. 94–110 [2] Hernández-Ruiz E (2005) Effect of Music Therapy on the Anxiety Levels and Sleep Patterns of Abused Women in Shelters. Journal of Music Therapy: Vol. 42, No. 2 pp. 140–158 [3] Mitchell LA, MacDonald RAR (2006) An Experimental Investigation of the Effects of Preferred and Relaxing Music Listening on Pain Perception. Journal of Music Therapy: Vol. 43, No. 4 pp. 295–316