“We commonly experience sound, psychologically equipped in advance, as music we listen to at concerts. But sound as a cultural element carries a much deeper and more fundamental purpose.” Giuseppe Pino Poclen
In previous episodes, drafted, arranged and hosted by pediatric neurologist Prim. Igor Mihael Ravnik, we met a neurologist from Czechia whose research expands beyond music - as a merely emotional stimulus - to studying physical-acoustic impact of music on the workings of the brain; we can assume that music improves the functioning of our brain but not necessarily in all cases. In another episode, Professor Breitenfeld, psychiatrist and doyen of musicotherapy from Zagreb (Croatia), administered this “tool” not only for the purposes of relaxation, communing and socialization but also rehabilitation in cases of speech impediment. In his opinion, the most adequate candidate for a musical therapist is someone able to captivate people with music, kind of like a village bandmaster; moreover, music as a common denominator, a bonding link, for relaxation, soothing and opening people up and towards each other, can, sometimes, stimulate development or even repair damaged neurological functions.
In episodes that follow, we feature two conversations with a polyvalent musician, Mr. Pino Giuseppe Poclen, musical therapist, specialized in extraordinary nonverbal psycho-dynamic. He's walked a lengthy path from pedagogue to music animator and is currently devoting himself and his skills to service and improve the quality of lives of severely handicapped, developmentally challenged, sick and old people in Italy and in Slovenia.
In this episode he's joined by his assistant who helps him run musicotherapy workshops in Slovenia, a specialist of clinical psychology with particular interest in neuro-psychology, Prof. Vali Glavič Tretnjak.
Mister Poclen began his career as a musical pedagogue and musical animator to later become a musical therapist, specialized in the school of nonverbal musical therapy. In this conversation, he illustrates an impressive scope of his activities, using not only words but also audio recordings; his work expands to several fields related to human needs, from childhood to old age.
Vali Glavič Tretnjak graduated in psychology, additionally specialized in clinical psychology and also did vocational training in the USA. She worked at the Center for Blind People (in Slovenia), and later at the Pediatric Clinic (Pediatrična klinika), first at the Pediatric Psychiatry unit (Pedopsihiatrični oddelek), and later at the Neurology unit where, as Head of Neuropsychology laboratory, she was particularly devoted to expanding the knowledge of Neuropsychology being the key component in diagnostics of disorders and illnesses of the central nervous system. Her work is a crucial contribution to the development of epileptology, in diagnostics as well as rehabilitation of children with severe epilepsy in Slovenia.
From previous episodes:
About Epilepsy and Music with Professor Rektor from Brno (Slovakia) about invasive neurological diagnostics and the impact of music and its acoustical elements on activation of bioelectric potentials in epileptic's brain. In other words, about music as a tool for non-pharmacological modulation of brain activity.
Historical Review of the Relationship Between Medicine and Music with Prof. Dr. Darko Breitenfeld, internationally acclaimed Social Psychiatrist, Alcohologist and one of the pioneers of musicotherapy in Central Europe, particularly in the field of Social Psychiatry, curing alcoholism and neurological disorders.
Credits
Author and Host • Igor M Ravnik
Guests • Giuseppe Pino Poclen, Vali Glavič Tretnjak
Editors • Saška Rakef, Tina Ogrin
Anchors • Lidija Hartman, Barbara Zupan
Sound Designers • Jon Čergan, Miha Klemenčič
Technical support and Coordination • Anže Ančimer
Proofreading • Mojca Blažej Cirej
Produced by • Radio Slovenija, B-AIR
Premiere • 25th of February 2021 and 4th of March 2021