FEATURE
A Great Healer
Music Therapy offers clients a unique outlet for addressing psychological issues and emotional expression, explains Chroma.
When talking therapies do not work, therapeutic song writing provides clients with the voice they desperately need.
Song writing enables clients to process difficult or traumatic memories, through writing, providing a less daunting way to approach complex subjects.
Alex Lowman, a qualified Neurologic Music Therapist at Chroma, implements song writing into her music therapy sessions with clients to support their emotional expression. Because song writing activates the part of the brain associated with emotion processing and regulation, the process allows clients to explore difficult memories and emotions in a less overwhelming way.
Once a song is complete, the client and therapist can return to it at any stage and explore further if necessary. Lyrics can uncover painful memories or emotions that the client has had trouble facing. Being able to explore the lyrics together offers the client a safe space for emotional expression.
Therapeutic song writing can also help to improve a client’s mental wellbeing and as a result, increase self-esteem and self-expression.
Improving mental wellbeing allows the client to feel more comfortable to express their thoughts and feelings during subsequent sessions, supporting opportunities for continual progress throughout the healing process.
Working with Client A, a young woman who was born with near total hypoxic-ischaemic encephalopathy, Alex uses song writing to gain a deeper understanding of her client’s mental wellbeing. Lyrics provide a window into Client A’s mindset allowing her to explore the emotions and themes within those songs. This process helps her confront and process emotions too difficult to face alone, effectively supporting mental healing.
Client A enjoys song writing, and studies drama and theatre singing at a performing arts college. Her goal was to record songs she had written in her songbook.
Alex also encouraged the client to develop her executive functioning skills though basic learning to play an instrument. Organising sheet music then translating the information to being able to play a note and then a tune, she then learnt to sing and play at the same time, which is a complex skill. The client
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was also able to retain the information she learnt one session and use it in the following session, which was rewarding and helped to build her self-esteem further.
Alex witnessed the client demonstrate numerous transferable skills such as initiating the songs to work on, the instrument she wanted to play, if she wanted Alex to accompany her, all of which lent themselves effectively to improving self-esteem, confidence, mental wellbeing, her quality of life – and of course, her performing arts college course.
“Therapeutic song writing can help improve a client’s mental wellbeing and as a result, increase self-esteem and self-expression.”
In the final music therapy session, the client went on to record five of her own songs in a recording studio and was able to perform them confidently.
Commenting on the experience, neuropsychologist, Dr David Quinn, said: “In a recent case I have been working with, music therapy provided by one of the Chroma therapists has opened unique possibilities in terms of occupation and career, social communication skills and artistic expression. As a team, we had the wonderful opportunity of seeing our service user perform her own music for the first time, it was a striking and wonderful moment in her therapeutic journey.”
Alex said: “Working with this young woman has been an amazing experience. She is clearly versed in music and the arts, which lends itself nicely to music therapy. She responded well and I hope that now the college is aware of her musical abilities, that they can provide more support in order for her to continue to excel in music.”
Due to the success of this project, a further 12-session block has been commissioned to start in early January 2022.
www.wearechroma.com
www.tomorrowscare.co.uk
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