Saying things can sometimes be difficult, so doing something physical is another way to get something from inside to out – expressing a difficult emotion and it being heard can be a positive experience. My musical career started with drumming, and I found it a huge release hitting stuff with sticks and that’s ok!
For children with limited or no language, any sound or small movement is interpreted as an attempt to communicate and we respond to that. You don’t need musical skill or experience to access music therapy and it’s not about getting good at music - we just create the space for a child to use in a way that is helpful for them. If a child plays loudly, I will match their loudness. Or if they’re angry, I respond in music. I tend to get a sense from the quality of the sound they're making what's going on for them, I respond to that in an appropriate way so they can feel heard, valued and understood. We don’t always know at the start what the session is going to look like, but the children find their own way to what they need. Older children sometimes choose songs with lyrics that might reflect how they're feeling. With younger children it might even be non-musical play – I have been known to push some of the children around in a large drum!
We provide a space where anything goes as long as we’re looking after everyone and the instruments. A safe place to express anger, sadness as well as fun and joy and a place just to try things and be playful with music. It’s a place to express things in another way.
What do you do in the sessions?
We do a whole bunch of things at the hospice sessions with the main focus being to open up the space for the children to make choices about what they want to do, so I can be led by them. I bring a whole load of instruments so they have lots of options to choose from and just see what happens. Sometimes I might need to have a few ice-breakers up my sleeve like a ‘hello’ song, but in my experience, the children are usually able to let me know in their own way what they would like to do.
I never know quite who's coming to the sessions because someone might be ill or they could have had transport issues, so I never totally know what abilities or needs are going to be in the group. I load up my car with pretty much everything I've got - drums, guitars, rainmakers, microphones, xylophones, percussion instruments. I then just see what the mood of the day is, what the age range and abilities are and create space for every child, so they feel the centre of everyone's attention and feel heard and understood – there’s lots of turn taking. For instance, for a child who is non-verbal with minimal movement, the room needs to be quiet and still to provide a space for the child to make sound in their own way so I can respond to it. I'll bring the room down to a quieter level and wait for that child to find what they want to do and then respond to it. I don’t always get it right; we need to find our way together. Music therapy is something we do together rather than something I do to or for the children.
The sessions are always led by the children and can be very different depending on what their needs are – it’s whatever they want to bring and how they want to get involved. Sometimes that might just be listening to music and talking about what music means to them or even songwriting. For others it can be very hands on. Sometimes the children don't want to play with the instruments in a traditional way – they might find their own ways like turning the drums upside down and pretending to cook! It’s whatever is the best way for the children to communicate and express themselves.
What are your best moments?
I’ve got so many favourite moments at Julia’s House – I love going to the hospices, they are so fun, uplifting and wonderful.
I enjoy working with the children who come in and own it from the start, grab the microphone and start singing. That's wonderful. But there is also something so special about having a moment with a child who doesn't find it so easy to take the space and finds it quite difficult to communicate. For them, you might have a moment when you can see they realise that what you're doing is just for them, as for some of them those moments might be few and far between. Finding a way to connect with someone who finds it more difficult than most to make that connection, even if they can only make a small movement or sound, that connection is still there. We need to make space and be patient enough and when they realise, they’ve been understood, that’s really special. We are used to doing things at such a pace that we just need to give more time than you sometimes think – while the sessions are upbeat, it can also be about not doing so much, giving space, being quieter, listening and waiting so all the children can contribute.
I find the longer-term work rewarding too, such as working with a sibling over a period of time. Developing that relationship where someone feels able to express some of the harder emotions and feelings.
What does being a music therapist mean to you?
For me, music has always been a real passion. I loved listening to and playing music when I was younger. I played the drums and at the time I didn't think too much about why but on reflection, I think it was how I could get emotions out that I wasn't necessarily able to talk about. I was a quiet child and playing drums became my voice - instinctively it was a great place for me to go and work it out on the drum kit, it was where I could be loud and big. Being able to help facilitate that for other people is really important to me – the experience of not finding the conventional ways of expressing myself easy and then now working with children who have a lot to say and are holding a lot and helping them to express some of that.
Here are some links if you would like more information or to refer for music therapy:
