Family members: Martin Palm

I interviewed Martin Palm, a member of the Balearic Breakfast Family, who works with adult SIB autistic patients in Estonia, about Music's healing powers.

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Hi Martin! Thanks for joining us here on the Balearic Breakfast blog! Can you present to us your professional work history and the patients you work with?

Hi Artur, thanks for having me! I live in Estonia and have been working in the field of mental health for some time. In 2023, I started working with adult SIB autistics. This specialized care service is new and unique in Estonia and is considered the most challenging in this field.

SIB autism refers to a form of autism that involves extremely self-injurious behavior. Our team works with adults diagnosed with this form of autism, who also have pervasive developmental and speech disorders. This means we work with individuals who are, in a sense, trapped in their own bodies and minds—unable to speak or express themselves, and, due to their developmental disorder, unable to do many things that most people take for granted, such as reading, writing, or clearly communicating their needs.

Since our clients have speech impairments, we cannot rely heavily on words and spoken language in our work. Instead of speech, we use pictogram symbol cards to guide and support them in their daily activities.

You may have read the interview I did with our friend, Douglas noble in which he shared how his work helped elederly people, and also people with diseases like dementia.Were the listenning sessions part of the initial program or did you introduce them? How did it all start?

The right and suitable music can have an incredibly powerful healing effect on a person. Music can set a positive mood for the entire day, and a person in a positive mood is much more likely to achieve better results in any aspect of life—be it work, studies, or treatment. That is why I believe that the use of music and music therapy in medicine is still highly underestimated and underutilized. I firmly believe that treating any severe illness could be much more effective if it incorporated music tailored to the individual—music that lifts their mood and helps dispel negative thoughts. Why, for example, shouldn’t hospitals have music therapists to create a personalized and supportive musical atmosphere for patients? In my opinion, this would have both a direct and indirect impact on producing better treatment outcomes.

In my work, the clients’ day is structured, and it includes a time we call sensory time, which means the client engages in their favorite pastime—one that is also developmental according to their unique traits and abilities. People with autism can have sensory perceptions that develop in very different ways. One person might be less sensitive to temperature or smell but have an extremely heightened sense of hearing. Another might have weak hearing but an exceptionally sharp sense of vision.

I often work with a 29-year-old client who has an extremely sensitive sense of hearing (Initially, we started these music sessions with two clients, but one preferred listening to calming nature sounds (tropical rain, bird calls, rustling trees, flowing water) instead of music.) For that client, who has heightened auditory perception, I began playing different types of music during sensory time to understand his preferences. As a person with an extraordinarily developed sense of hearing, he perceives every sound with remarkable precision—every nuance and vibration is distinguishable to him. When listening to music, he can pick up all the hidden layers, details, and undertones that subtly weave into the rhythm and melody. If he enjoyed a particular piece, he would close his eyes, immerse himself deeply in the sounds, sway to the rhythm, and sometimes vocalize his excitement—especially when the melody took an unexpected turn or included sounds he had never encountered before. In short, music took him on a journey.

You briefly explained the type of music you select in the playlist you use during these sessions, saying you mainly chose instrumental music (Zimmer, Oldfield, but also Enya or Coldplay). Does the Tonality of the music come into play too or is it just about the frequencies and the purity (simplicity) of the music played (as you said your patients liked high and pure sounds)? How do you select the songs?

We started the first sessions with Estonian lullabies, which worked extremely well and put the client into a meditative state where he was happy to stay. In the following months, we moved towards new compositions and styles. By that time, I had realized that instrumental music was easier for him to follow, as songs with lyrics—whose meaning he didn’t understand and which were therefore harder for him to process— were not as effective as instrumental pieces. However, tracks featuring chanting, wailing, or moaning, where the vocals functioned more like an instrument, worked exceptionally well. It became also clear that he enjoyed high notes and a pure, clean sound.

During this phase, we listened to a lot of Mike Oldfield (Ommadawn, Tubular Bells), Air (Moon Safari), Deep Forest, and Hans Zimmer. One of his absolute favorites turned out to be Clocks by Coldplay.

I started experimenting with different styles to see what worked and what didn’t—ranging from classical music (Chopin, Vivaldi) to modern electronic genres. Vocal house, for instance, left him indifferent, but deep house in the style of Larry Heard and Ron Trent resonated with him a lot. The same happened with drum and bass—tracks with overly intense rhythms were more disturbing than enjoyable, but Peshay mixes, with their slightly softer and gentler beats, were very much to his liking. Reggae also suited him very well due to its rhythmic structure and repetitive patterns. He also responded extremely well to tracks by Galaxy II Galaxy, Los Hermanos, and Rolando.

Did you actually made your patients listen to a full Balearic Breakfast episode or to just snipets of the show (I presume the listenning sessions don't last too long)? Did you notice any reactions to Colleen's voice (as it is both friendly, calm and in a way soothing)? How do the patients react to Balearic Breakfast?

Yes, Actually. At one point, in the listening process with the patient, I dedicated an entire session to listening to Manuel Göttsching’s E2-E4 album in full, and it worked absolutely perfectly. I realized that the ideal music for these sessions might be something in the Balearic style—dreamy, meditative, filled with layers, nuances, and vibrations. I initially considered moving on to José Padilla’s compilations, but then I remembered the existence of Colleen and her Balearic Breakfast. In December, we listened to a fresh episode of Balearic Breakfast, and it worked instantly. After that, I abandoned my own playlists, opened the Balearic Breakfast archive, and we started listening to the episodes from the very beginning.

We try to listen to a full episode or at least as much as the session time limit (1 to 1.5 hours) allows us. It is interesting that you asked about Colleen's voice, as I thought about its effect during one of our listening sessions. Yes, there is an extremely positive and soothing effect in it, and although my client does not understand English, he does not disengage or show signs of disinterest, as the soothing sound of Colleen's voice works as a pleasant bridge between different tracks.

The reception of BB has been excellent, as Colleen's music selection largely matches what suits this client. Perhaps he doesn’t fully engage with some tracks that have a lot of vocals, but most of the songs are exactly his cup of tea. Usually, the selection is really eclectic, and every song feels like a gateway to a new world for him, so he remains very attentive and focused. However, some songs work better than others. Here are some examples that he really liked: The Durutti Column's Otis with Vini Reilly's meditative guitar riffs is a really good example. Despite the intensive vocals, Quincy Jones's and Donna Summer's State of Independence with all its chanting and high-tone details worked really well (I actually think that Chrissie Hynde's 15-minute-long version of that track would work extremely well too).

What also works really well for him is music with an oriental influence, like Jhalib – Mysteries of the East, where the rhythm with a different structure and the combination of flute and sitar was extremely captivating for him. Marcel – On The Beach worked really well, and so did Sueno Latino – Sueno Latino. And so on...

What do you like the most about our beloved show?

I love the show's eclecticism and Colleen's boundless knowledge and passion for music. The fact that Colleen is able to find so many different styles within those two hours, yet everything is extremely balanced and works in harmonious unity. I think José Padilla once said that Balearic can be any music that elevates you. And the music selection in the Balearic Breakfast show is a living proof of that.