My name is Leigh Jenks and for the last 15 years I have been a Board Certified Music Therapist.
At the young age of nine, I discovered my love of music. I started playing the clarinet and then taught myself the oboe at twelve. I would play both by written music and by ear. My favorite kind of music then was soundtracks. I would sit in my room for hours on end and play the oboe to the recorded soundtracks. I was able to completely lose myself in the music and forget about the daily ordeals of teenage life. As my love of music continued to grow, I found that one of my true passions was sharing it with others. I took my oboe into nursing homes and started sharing music with them. The music seemed to transform them too, like it had me. They started smiling, clapping and singing along. I felt like I was making a difference and it felt great. In high school, I spent every free moment in the band room practicing, filing music, and helping the music director with office tasks. He asked me one day if I had ever considered becoming a music therapist. After doing some research, I knew this was the career for me. Since that day, I never thought twice about any other career. Using music to help people was exactly what I wanted to do.
In college, I felt drawn to using music therapy in end-of-life care. Don’t ask me how, but I just knew that I wanted to share music with people that had a terminal illness and that were dying. The thought of coming into someone’s life at the very end and making a difference with music, was invigorating to me. I have touched so many people’s lives and they have touched mine just as much. It goes beyond words to witness a mute person sing an entire song with me, a person in severe pain fall asleep, or be with someone that dies as I sing to them. Those experiences have made me who I am today and I’m absolutely honored and privileged to share in these moments with people.
I discovered Guided Imagery and Music (GIM) about five years into my career and was interested in the modality to address issues of grief and loss. Little did I know, that this modality would change my life. While in training, we had to experience the power of GIM ourselves. I was able to address and explore my own issues of a pre-cancer diagnosis, infertility, trauma, PTSD, anxiety, and depression. I truly felt like what I tried to accomplish in years of talk therapy, I overcame in just a couple sessions in GIM. I felt so empowered and excited to share this modality with others.
I have used GIM with people experiencing effects of trauma, depression, anxiety, burnout, grief and loss, and health challenges and have seen remarkable progress in their ability to embrace life with a new perspective. Because I work in a hospice setting and many patients that I see on a daily basis are experiencing some level of confusion, it has been contraindicated to use GIM with them. I was desiring to find some other way to use the power of GIM to help people integrate their mind, body and spirit. That is when I decided to begin a supplemental GIM practice and open this opportunity up to the community. I know that I was put on this earth to help people through my love of music. I want people to come experience GIM and walk away feeling more balanced, empowered and know that they have the inner resources to heal and transform their lives.
At the young age of nine, I discovered my love of music. I started playing the clarinet and then taught myself the oboe at twelve. I would play both by written music and by ear. My favorite kind of music then was soundtracks. I would sit in my room for hours on end and play the oboe to the recorded soundtracks. I was able to completely lose myself in the music and forget about the daily ordeals of teenage life. As my love of music continued to grow, I found that one of my true passions was sharing it with others. I took my oboe into nursing homes and started sharing music with them. The music seemed to transform them too, like it had me. They started smiling, clapping and singing along. I felt like I was making a difference and it felt great. In high school, I spent every free moment in the band room practicing, filing music, and helping the music director with office tasks. He asked me one day if I had ever considered becoming a music therapist. After doing some research, I knew this was the career for me. Since that day, I never thought twice about any other career. Using music to help people was exactly what I wanted to do.
In college, I felt drawn to using music therapy in end-of-life care. Don’t ask me how, but I just knew that I wanted to share music with people that had a terminal illness and that were dying. The thought of coming into someone’s life at the very end and making a difference with music, was invigorating to me. I have touched so many people’s lives and they have touched mine just as much. It goes beyond words to witness a mute person sing an entire song with me, a person in severe pain fall asleep, or be with someone that dies as I sing to them. Those experiences have made me who I am today and I’m absolutely honored and privileged to share in these moments with people.
I discovered Guided Imagery and Music (GIM) about five years into my career and was interested in the modality to address issues of grief and loss. Little did I know, that this modality would change my life. While in training, we had to experience the power of GIM ourselves. I was able to address and explore my own issues of a pre-cancer diagnosis, infertility, trauma, PTSD, anxiety, and depression. I truly felt like what I tried to accomplish in years of talk therapy, I overcame in just a couple sessions in GIM. I felt so empowered and excited to share this modality with others.
I have used GIM with people experiencing effects of trauma, depression, anxiety, burnout, grief and loss, and health challenges and have seen remarkable progress in their ability to embrace life with a new perspective. Because I work in a hospice setting and many patients that I see on a daily basis are experiencing some level of confusion, it has been contraindicated to use GIM with them. I was desiring to find some other way to use the power of GIM to help people integrate their mind, body and spirit. That is when I decided to begin a supplemental GIM practice and open this opportunity up to the community. I know that I was put on this earth to help people through my love of music. I want people to come experience GIM and walk away feeling more balanced, empowered and know that they have the inner resources to heal and transform their lives.
