CLEVELAND —Tamara Welan has written and played music since the age of 12. It's been a love of hers for more than 40 years, and now, music is loving her back.

"It's amazing. I think on a broader scale, I think people are involved in music therapy every day and they don't even realize it. When you turn on that radio, there's some inner healing going on. It's just — there's something about sound that is incredible. And I think that we're on the cusp of realizing and recognizing the benefits, the full benefits of music therapy," said Welan.

What You Need To Know

  • Experts say music therapy can be used to heal emotional and physical pain, both in and out of the hospital

  • Music therapy uses evidence-based music interventions to address nonmusical goals

  • Music therapy does not require music experience

Experts say music therapy can be used to heal emotional and physical pain, both in and out of the hospital. Welan started using music therapy after an accident. For an hour each week, she works with University Hospital's Music Therapist Angel Foss.

“Music therapy uses evidence-based music interventions to address nonmusical goals, such as in Tamara’s case, using music as coping, and for emotional healing," said Foss.

Foss says music therapy is for everyone — you don't need to have prior music experience; However, with Welan, they’re able to take it a step further. They wrote a song together during their sessions, “the things she's dealing with are, like you said, Tamara...just too difficult to put into words. But allowing her to use her musical talent to to express those things, I think, is where it's really helped her," said Foss.

The song is called “We’ve Talked Enough,” and Welan says that's why she plays.

“I definitely would recommend it, whether you're a musician or not. It's just been a blessing.”