Music Therapy
What is Music Therapy?
I use music to support others in exploring their emotions, relationships, and experiences in a safe, secure, and supportive environment. It can offer a person a way of being heard that they might not have experienced before and can help improve physical and emotional wellbeing.
Music therapy is an established psychological clinical intervention, which is delivered by HCPC registered music therapists to help people whose lives have been affected by injury, illness or disability through supporting their psychological, emotional, cognitive, physical, communicative and social needs.
Sessions last between 30 and 45 minutes and are private and confidential.
I am registered with the British Association of Music Therapists, DBS checked and hold all appropriate Insurances. I also follow NHS and HCPC Safeguarding guidelines, updating my training as required.
I work within the person centred approach, which means that all sessions are set up to be accessible to you.
Adults
Mental Health and Well-being
I follow a person centred approach and so my aim is to support you to gently explore, express and understand the challenges that you are currently experiencing. When we feel stuck in negative thought patterns or with an emotional problem that talking is not helping, music can be a way of exploring and understanding your thoughts. Through creating your own music, singing songs that hold meaning to you or writing your own, you can gently explore your personal challenges and find some understanding and acceptance. No musical skill is required as we use a variety of instruments which are easily accessible and I will support you to feel confident to explore and play.
If you would like to find out how music therapy can support you contact me here.
“Meeting Emma made me feel so much better about what I’d been through. It was lovely playing music then writing songs about the abuse I’d experienced. She helped me to understand that it wasn’t my fault and boosted my confidence so much.”
Young People
Music Therapy Can Help Young People Who Have:
- Experienced trauma
- Experience anxiety
- Challenging mental health needs
- Autism and other communication challenges
- Life limiting illnesses
My focus is always to assist children and young people in living their best lives, whether that be reaching their developmental and academic milestones or recovering from traumatic and difficult experiences in order to improve their emotional lives.
Sessions are led by the child or young person and the reasons for referral depending on their emotional or behavioural needs. The aim being to provide opportunities to build trusting and meaningful relationships, increase self-confidence and chances for self-expression.
I also work with children and young people who have experienced trauma in schools and colleges, supporting them to explore their experiences, emotions and build confidence in their emotional self awareness. This improves not only their emotional and physical wellbeing, but can also support improved social interactions, educational attainment and family relationships.
My approach is proactive and collaborative, working with the community around the child as appropriate.
“Jessica was really anxious and finding school really difficult to cope with. She loves her sessions and is much calmer and able to explain her emotions to us when she’s upset. The change in her behaviour has been really noticeable and made an enormous difference to her life at school.”
What happens in a Music Therapy session?
What is my role?
My role is to support you in expressing yourself as you wish. You may want to talk, you might choose not to – it is your session and it is important that it meets your needs. Careful consideration will be made of the situation the therapy takes place in, whether it be in my private studio, a school or your home and how accessible the instruments on offer are.
What happens in the session?
At the beginning of each session you will have a chance to experiment with different instruments and play freely. I will support you in doing so and may join you on another instrument like the piano or drum. Together we can create music that could be made up on the spot or planned, it could be a song we write together or one that means a lot to you.
Who can benefit from Music Therapy?
Musical ability is not necessary to take part in music therapy, which means that anyone can benefit from it. As it does not depend on speech, music therapy is a particularly effective clinical intervention for people who have difficulty communicating verbally. Music has also been shown to effectively work with the physical and emotional effects of trauma, PTSD and adverse childhood experiences, offering children, young people and adults opportunities to creatively explore relationships and process their feelings safely. More links to this can be found in the Mental Health links section.
Working with music therapists can be life-changing. For instance, clients can develop emotional, social and communication skills, helping them to have more friends and better relationships; recover from traumatic experiences and begin to properly access education by having more confidence and less anxiety which may mean they are better able to remain in the classroom.
Example - Will
Will was in year 2 and struggling with violent outbursts and a difficult relationship with his classmates. He was clever, but not meeting his educational targets. Over the course of two years we developed a strong relationship through playing music and exploring his world through drama, helping him to learn and understand turn taking, sharing, building emotional resilience and negotiation skills. Our sessions came to an end when he was reading confidently in class and trading his Pokemon cards to a small, supportive group of friends. He also started meeting his educational targets and was being given ‘star of the week’ regularly.
Example - Amelia
Amelia had been adopted at age 4 after a very difficult few years with various family members. She was unable to tolerate the classroom, needed constant 1-1 support and was lonely, more likely to play with much younger children than her peers. We spent 1 year together, playing songs and music, exploring her early childhood experiences and allowing her to relive them safely. Towards the end of our year she was playing with her classmates and spending much more time in the classroom. She still struggled with anxiety, but I supported her teacher and assistants in tailoring their input to suit her needs through adapting the classroom, the words they used when she was distressed and helping them to spot emotional triggers before they happened.