In July 2015, the first mission to the Holy Land took place with the creation of a music therapy workshop and a seminar on the Affolter method. The intervention, coordinated by prof. Cristina Castelli, included a music therapy laboratory, coordinated by dr. Dario Benatti and Dr. Maria Pia Bonanomi, which lasted 7 days and was followed by 26 professionals and students from the socio-educational, health, psychological and musical fields. During this first mission, a training course was also promoted for the nuns, operators and volunteers of the Hogar Niño Dios on the Affolter method, a system aimed at developing and strengthening autonomy in daily activities for children with atypical development. The laboratory lasted three days and was followed by 16 participants.
The training course lasted 35 hours divided into theoretical-practical lessons, guided experiences, exercises concerning the use of instruments and voice, visualization and analysis of music therapy sessions.
Theoretical aspects: the analysis of sound and music as a means of communication, relationship and self-expression were deepened. In particular, the approach of music therapy was proposed, as a set of educational and rehabilitative techniques aimed at creating communication opportunities, where other modalities, such as verbal language, are limited by problems of various kinds.
Practical aspects: use of basic music therapy tools; empathetic listening and facilitation of the dialogic relationship through sound and music; experimentation of sound-movement relationships in bodily expression, of the ludic-expressive and relational characteristics of ensemble improvisation and of one's own vocality; analysis and functional use of music therapy techniques.
