What’s Happening

Songwriting is fun, so it’s easy to look at the Lost Voices experience as a recreational activity. It is certainly that. But there are also established scientific reasons why the Lost Voices experience is so effective as a therapeutic tool for survivors of trauma. I gleaned the medical information for this article primarily from a paper in the National Library of Medicine, along with many other studies I’ve read over the years and some of the background behind the Trauma Informed Care training we receive from the CASCAID Group at the University of Michigan School of Nursing.

So here’s how it works. When you write down your thoughts, or talk them out,  that exercises some specific isolated parts of your brain. Experiencing a song activates completely different parts. Fusing your thoughts with music, though, demands a complex, synchronized interplay across the entire brain. Songwriting turns out to be  the ultimate mental juggling act. 

When you try to fit lyrics to a melody, you engage the part of your brain (doctors call it the “prefrontal cortex”) that manages complex mental functions like decision-making, working memory, impulse control, and emotional regulation. It has to work on overdrive to satisfy multiple tasks simultaneously. Neurologists call this the “Multi-Tasking Matrix.” You are not simply picking words. You are searching for words that fit a rhyme scheme, a syllabic rhythm, and a specific emotional tone. To execute this, your brain must hold the melody and rhythmic structure in short-term storage, while it simultaneously scans your long-term memory for the meaning of the words. (more…)

This group song, called “Girls United” was written by ten amazing young women in the Lead Like a Girl program in Canton, Michigan. They were mentored and accompanied by Lost Voices musicians Kitty Donohoe and Samantha Cooper, along with some help from Lost Voices founder Mike Ball.

Girls United

Anything that a girl can do they’ll find a way to make it less.
You can be anything you want to, not something that they expect.

Anything that a girl can do, we’ll work together through the mess.
We can be anything we want as long-as-we- keep
Our self respect.

United we stand, divided we fall.
We keep on trying when times can get hard.
United we stand, divided we fall.
If we, stick together, we’ll get, through, it all.

I don’t even have to prove you wrong, I already know who I am.
We know that we are strong our ri-ver’s brea-king down the dam.

We are changing as we move along, we always try to do our best.
This is why we wrote this song to stay together through this quest.

United we stand, divided we fall.
We keep on trying when times can get hard.
United we stand, divided we fall.
If we, stick together, we’ll get, through, it all.

If we, stick together, we’ll get, through, it all.

Here is the entire 26 minute concert by these amazing girls. It includes their outstanding individual songs.

Dr. Grant Drake is a retired clinical psychiatrist and the President of the Lost Voices Board of Directors. For years he has provided steady leadership, along with invaluable clinical insights as we have continued to grow and refine our process. We thought you should get acquainted with Dr. Drake in his own words. 

I grew up in the Northeast and came to the University of Michigan for my psychiatric training and stayed in Ann Arbor for my career and to raise our three kids. Because my psychiatric training began in the early 1970s, there was more emphasis on psychotherapy techniques rather than on medications, so my practice also focused more on that. 

Before I fully retired in 2019, most of my work was private practice in Ann Arbor, but in my last 10 years I worked halftime at the Women’s HuronValley State Prison in Ypsilanti. Those years helped me understand how childhood trauma, abuse, or neglect so often create a pathway to prison unless the kids receive sufficient interventions to alter that path. The Lost Voices songwriting process can offer a powerful intervention by fostering self-esteem and a strong connection to the creative process and to fellow participants. (more…)

If you are 70 1/2 or older you can contribute to Lost Voices from your IRA and avoid paying taxes on that withdrawal. By directing a “Qualified Charitable Distribution” (QCD)  to Lost Voices, that full amount will be sent to Lost Voices and will not be considered taxable income to you. Your donation will help to satisfy your Required Minimum Distribution (RMD).

For Example: Suppose your Required Minimum Distribution this year is $30,000. If you are in the 20% tax bracket, you will pay $6,000 in federal taxes for that withdrawal. But if you direct a $10,000 Qualified Charitable Contribution to Lost Voices that full amount will go to support our work and you need only withdraw $20,000. Your federal tax on your IRA withdrawal will be $4,000, not $6,000.

You can do this with a simple call to your financial advisor or plan administrator, telling them that you want to send a Qualified Charitable Contribution to Lost Voices, 650 Church St., Suite 206, Plymouth MI 48170.

This group song, called “Memories,” was written by an exceptional group of young women in a program last year:

I’m seeking memories
To get away from all
The negativity

I sleep the day away
To try to stay away
From negativity

I’m feeling restless
From what was done to me
Before recovering
(more…)

People sometimes think that what we do with the Lost Voices kids is music therapy. It is certainly related, in that our work does completely revolve around the deeply therapeutic aspects of music. We initially developed our process back in 2006 in a facility that had an on-site music therapist, and she found that it interfaced perfectly with her treatment goals.

Lost Voices actually employs a different process than traditional music therapy. While we consistently use and collaborate with the youth in musical tones and rhythms, our real focus is on verbal expression. We concentrate on the lyrics, offering the kids a freedom to verbalize their feelings in ways that they may have rarely experienced. 

(more…)

For nearly two decades we’ve been writing songs with young men and women who are fighting to recover from trauma. We work to give them a safe, non-judgmental space to explore their feelings.

The kids write individual songs, and they write collaborative songs in which the whole group agrees on every word and note. Then they go on stage with us to perform their work. Over the years we have accumulated many amazing masterpieces from these young souls.

This is a heartfelt song called “Stay Strong,” written early this summer. In it the girls have captured the idea that life can be hard and painful, but that if you choose to battle through the pain and stand up, the process can make you better. And Strong.

(more…)

It’s easy to view the arts as a luxury rather than a fundamental necessity of life. It’s undeniable that food, water, and shelter are necessary for basic survival.

But if you want to get a sense of how deeply art is embedded in the human experience,  just watch and listen to a baby, yet to utter their first word, self-soothing by singing in a rhythm, melody, and language all their own. Consider how many times you’ve dealt with your own happiness, anger, or sadness by listening to – or singing – a particular song. Music is a universal language we all use in different ways to cope with a world we can’t always control. (more…)

For nearly two decades we’ve been writing group songs with young men and women who are fighting to recover from trauma. We work to give them a safe, non-judgmental space to explore their feelings.

Over the years the kids have produced a mountain of amazing and unforgettable work. They have written sad songs, happy songs, hopeful songs, and – every now and then – goofy songs. Sometimes the songs are all of these things.

Here’s a really sweet and wonderful song called “Colors,” written over the course of two sessions earlier this year. I feel like the kids have captured a complete range of emotions, from sadness to a powerful message of hope and healing. (more…)

The kids we work with are struggling to find themselves after enduring all sorts of hardship, so it stands to reason that they can be volatile. You might assume that the staff who works with these young people every day sometimes get numb or indifferent to them. In my experience, the opposite is true. The staff I know are dedicated to do a tough job, because these young lives are worth it.

A case in point is “Ms Erinn.” At our last concert, she read a poem and asked Kitty to sing a song she had written that was inspired by the kids. She explained it this way:

(more…)