Written by Daphné B.
Translated by Charlotte BA
St. Raphael’s is fortunate to have experienced multidisciplinary professionals on its team. Music Therapist Anne Lacourse and Art Therapist Martine Ashby provide people living with an incurable illness with the opportunity to participate in legacy projects in which they are encouraged to create memories for their loved ones. “These legacy projects are extremely precious and have an incalculable impact,” says Music Therapist Anne Lacourse.
Whether a sound record or casting, the legacy projects created by people living with an incurable illness are a source of solace to them and a comfort to those to their loved one. “A legacy project can literally change the course of a life and that of the grieving process,” continues Anne. These projects can calm the anxiety surrounding death. They allow people at the end of life to express their desires and make choices, at a time when they are experiencing a loss of control. By giving them the option of preparing for their absence and nurturing their loved ones, legacy projects have a reassuring effect. They allay the fear of being forgotten or that of abandoning the people they love. Orchestrating one’s own demise is a way to take care of oneself and others. A personal and intimate gesture, a legacy project not only cultivates one’s memory and supports grieving loved ones, but it also brings a feeling of peace.
Music Therapist Anne Lacourse has worked in palliative care for years. Through this experience, she has developed a specialized approach to support people living with an incurable illness in creating sound legacy projects. This could be writing a text put to music, recording the person singing a significant song or even designing a personal message saved on a USB key. This type of project can be completed quickly or over a long period of time, from several months to several years.
Anne shares the story of a young man she supported. “He knew he was dying and wanted to create a legacy project for his wife and young baby. We recorded him singing a song he associated with meeting his romantic partner and singing a lullaby that he sang to his child every night. The impact was incredible. He felt like he was leaving something tangible behind.” Anne tells me that every night, when giving milk to her baby, the mother plays the father’s lullaby, a refrain that the child has come to love. “You know, the voice is an instrument that opens our heart,” she continues. Our entire humanity can be accessed in this vessel for speech and singing. Moreover, music is freeing, a form of release. “People come to trust me quickly,” Anne tells me. This is because the voice is not only physical, tied to breathing, it also evokes emotions. It affects us and resonates with what we hold most dear. When creating an auditory legacy project, people living with an incurable illness can express emotions that they would hold back otherwise. It is a therapeutic activity that energizes and comforts the person doing it.
Art Therapist Martine Ashby has worked for several years in palliative care, particularly in pediatrics. For her, supporting people at the end of life is an enormous privilege, especially because of the trust placed in her. As part of legacy projects, Martine helps people living with an incurable illness to use their creativity to create a meaningful visual legacy. No need to be an artist to do so. Martine insists that the activity is inclusive. “It’s accessible to everyone.” Obviously, each project develops according to the needs and abilities of the person. People can create alone or with loved ones, take a humorous or serious approach, depending on the introspective work they want to accomplish. “It can be emotionally demanding,” Martine tells me. An artistic legacy project can take many forms: a memory box filled with mementos, for example, a symbolic watercolour or scrapbooking… they all have their place. One of the most popular projects is making a cast of one’s hand by dipping it in a product that hardens and then pouring very rigid plaster into the mould. The resulting sculpture is a powerful symbol: we use our hands to touch, to caress, to show love and affection. By immortalizing this part of the body, people living with an incurable illness leave a trace of the link that binds them to others.
Martine is amazed by people’s creativity. “You know, people often find their own inspiration just by coming to the studio. It moves me to see that they are intuitively inspired by the setting.” In this space, they are able to reconnect with a part of themselves, a part they may not have connected with in their everyday life. Moreover, art is a uniting, inclusive, human experience. It is found in all cultures and has been around since the dawn of time. “There is something very human in it,” adds Martine. In a situation where words are not always enough to express what one is experiencing, art can serve as a non-verbal language. Through creation, people can speak without words. With a visual legacy project, people at the end of life are able to communicate complex emotions. What’s more, it often promotes dialogue with family members. As a result, fewer things are left unsaid, and people are brought closer together.
The key point about legacy projects is that they are extremely precious and have a significant impact on the person at the end of life as well as on the people around them. They have as much value for the person preparing them as for the person receiving them. Whether auditory or visual, the process of creating them is therapeutic and comforting and allows people to express all sorts of emotions. Sometimes, legacy projects even open the way to meaningful conversations and allow members of a family to address what ordinarily goes unsaid. Legacy projects can also alleviate an array of fears related to death, like forgetting or of being forgotten. These visual or auditory records help us to preserve the memory of those we love, to experience our grief and find peace.
To book an appointment with St. Raphael’s Music Therapist Anne Lacourse or Art Therapist Martine Ashby, please write to us at centrejour@maisonstraphael.org or call us at 514-736-2001, ext. 400.
By continuing to browse this site, you agree to the use of cookies to improve your user experience, offer you personalized content, analyze our traffic and offer you social media features. Information about our use of cookies is available in our Privacy Policy. By clicking “Accept”, you consent to the use of all cookies.
