MUSIC Music for the Mind
Raf Hamaizia, Expert by Experience Lead at Cygnet Health Care, discusses the power of music therapy in aiding mental health recovery.
There are few among us who don’t listen to music as a form of leisure or relaxation, but it has long served quite a different purpose, as one of the oldest forms of therapy for those experiencing mental distress. Indeed, on history’s first psychiatric wards in Baghdad nearly 1,300 years ago, music was one of the only therapeutic practices at the time.
In more recent decades, we’ve relied on mental health treatment that is more symptom-focused and medication- orientated, but music therapy is still practiced and supports an understanding of mental healthcare today that is increasingly recovery-focused. With an established and growing body of evidence demonstrating its importance for people experiencing mental ill health, music therapy offers a major opportunity for individuals to put themselves at the heart of their recovery.
Across mental healthcare, as recovery-focused treatment becomes more established, we are turning increasingly to therapy interventions such as music therapy, which promote improvements in people’s social relations, connectedness and employability, as well as building confidence and self- esteem. I’ve seen first-hand how music can help achieve this, empowering people to address problems rooted in their past, opening up channels of communication and helping people to share their story and talk about their feelings and experiences.
In individual and group settings, we have found that music therapy can cultivate a sense of hope and support that reduces isolation, promotes greater understanding and allows people to express themselves creatively. Crucially, music helps to build a sense of connectivity to yourself and your community – something that is vital for individuals in mental health care settings.
MUSIC 2 EMPOWER
As an Expert by Experience, my role at Cygnet Health Care is to be a champion for people dealing with mental distress to ensure that their voice is heard at the highest levels of the service. As a former service-user myself, I have an intimate understanding of why this is critical and it is why I have worked hard to develop a music therapy project based around the belief that people must be at the heart of their treatment.
At Cygnet, we have called this programme ‘Music 2 Empower’. It is an initiative to provide music sessions for service users but also to provide studio time for people to record their own music. For many people, it’s an activity that has been an invaluable part of their recovery. Indeed, one person described to me how being able to go into a recording studio has helped him to build his confidence during recovery. Ultimately, the project draws on music therapy to create a meaningful outlet for people to communicate their experiences, as well as to find support during their recovery.
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Everyone has their own experience of and relationship with music - I know that from my own experience - but music therapy has the real potential to enhance treatment, helping to fuel personal development, break down boundaries and build a sense of hope for the future.
DUVONNE’S STORY – SPEAKING YOUR TRUTH
DuVonne is a recording artist and former Cygnet service user who describes his life as “a long history and love affair with music.” He began by playing keyboards in church and started to write his own music at the age of 14. A former service user at Cygnet Hospital Blackheath, music has had an important role in his recovery journey and he recalls feeling ‘dazzled’ by the opportunity offered by Cygnet to record his own song in a studio in 2017.
For DuVonne, music therapy, and the opportunity to record these songs in the studio, was a huge source of enjoyment and empowerment, crediting the project with allowing people to find their voice and ‘speak their truth’. He recalls that music sessions enable you to “put things into perspective; to understand what you don’t necessarily understand about your own life and circumstances and to see things are right there in front of you by hearing them back in your music.”
Since his discharge, DuVonne has gone on to help facilitate music sessions for others, working with one person to provide the chorus for an original rap, which they recorded together. DuVonne knows how hard it can be at times when receiving care away from home, but believes music can bring greater enrichment and enjoyment to people, individually and in groups, and aid people in connecting with themselves, others and their own experiences.
CYGNET ASPEN HOUSE AND ASPEN CLINIC
As part of the Music 2 Empower programme, women from two Cygnet services, Aspen House and Aspen Clinic, recently teamed up to rehearse and record a song, meeting every week for a hot drink and a singsong. The therapy co-ordinators from both services noticed that the women’s confidence was increasing significantly as the project went on, as they found ways to express their feelings through music in an environment that felt safe and secure.
For these women, the social element of the project was integral to growing their self-esteem. Working and singing together cultivated social skills and greater self-confidence, as well as empowering people to create positive change, with one individual remarking how much music can help people.
Since their recording session, the women have established a permanent choir and are now looking to share their project with others by singing on other wards at their service.
www.cygnethealth.co.uk www.tomorrowscare.co.uk
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