Special family connection shows the power of music therapy in Philadelphia
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Doctors say the power of music for medical therapies can help with movement and moods and much more. Whether you're playing music or listening, it can be very therapeutic for most people.
It's an important part of rehabilitation at Magee , where a music therapist has a special family connection.
For people with disabilities, celebrating sunshine can be challenging but music therapist Allie McCrea brings a special spirit to Magee Rehabilitation.
"She helps me with a lot of things," patient Dave Driscoll said.
She's spent her life helping a mission that started with her dad who was wheelchair-bound from a military injury. He was treated at Magee and really responded to music therapy.
"He was becoming more and more relaxed," McCrea said. "It was evidence, I was like this works."
Research shows music therapy is not only helpful for patients with occupational movement, its mental health and emotional benefits are also very powerful.
"Emotionally, it makes me feel much better," Driscoll said. "It's one of my favorite parts of the day when I come here."
Driscoll appreciates music and Allie so much that he made a painting for her.
"I cried," she said.
McCrea says she has a special connection with her patients that comes from her dad.
"Parts of him are present in almost everybody I work with," she said.
After her dad passed, McCrea took comfort in going through home videos that she put on TikTok.
"I didn't ever expect the TikTok to blow up to what it is now it was just my way of processing grief," she said.
Then the reactions started pouring in.
"Seeing my dad's story gave them a lot of hope and a lot of inspiration," McCrea said.
A daughter's love now helping others at Magee and on TikTok.
"If I can normalize hardship, normalize illness, normalize a beautiful life that people can live despite hardship and illness and everything then that's what this is for," McCrea said.
She is a special person and you can see why she's so popular at Magee where she works in the outpatient clinic.