Music therapy is currently offered at TouchBase Dunbartonshire and TouchBase Fife. Soon, we will be offering music therapy in TouchBase Glasgow one day a week. But what is music therapy, and how does it differ from the other services that Sense Scotland offers?
According to the British Association for Music Therapy, music therapy is an established psychological clinical intervention, 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 (www.bamt.org, 2022). Music therapy has a strict set of guidelines and standards of conduct, performance and ethics that must be adhered to, in line with other HCPC-registered professions such as other art therapies, speech and language therapy, occupational therapy, and physiotherapy. All clinical work must also be independently supervised and continually reviewed to ensure its ongoing efficacy. As with other forms of therapy, the therapeutic process, and the client/therapist relationship, are central to ongoing progress within music therapy.
In a music therapy session, clients might sing songs, play pre-composed music, write music, or improvise. Due to the level of need at TouchBase Dunbartonshire and TouchBase Fife, free improvisation is the predominant therapeutic tool used within sessions, as this allows individuals to engage in interactions in any way that they are able. Individuals are invited to develop social and interpersonal skills such as turn-taking, listening, and waiting; develop motor skills through the playing of instruments; or explore their individualised creativity and expressivity through singing and playing. The music therapist responds to anything that each person might be able to offer – vocalisations, movements, facial expressions, gestures, or even breathing – validating each person’s lived experience and encouraging further self-expression, creativity, and emotional exploration.
The people we support at Sense Scotland face a vast range of challenges due to sensory, physical, and learning disabilities – issues with communication, difficulties with mobility, coordination and motor skills, and difficulties accessing the community. As well as these hugely significant challenges, those with disabilities can also experience emotional or psychological issues related to their lived experience of disability, and how their disability or condition might impact autonomy and independence, relationships and interpersonal skills, and emotional wellbeing. Often, support for those with physical, sensory, or learning disabilities focuses on the practical, day-to-day challenges disability can bring, while the emotional and social impact of profound and multiple disabilities is perhaps less explored, both for the disabled individual and for the people that support them. Furthermore, mental health services can be difficult for those with little or no spoken language.
As a potentially non-verbal intervention, music therapy is increasingly being offered to meet this need – either as a means of managing challenging behaviour or providing support during difficult times, such as the loss of a loved one or during a large and sudden change in personal circumstances. Music therapy has also been offered to staff, and it is hoped that in the future, family sessions could also be offered, to better support those that care for the people we work with. Music therapy is an incredibly vital service for those with physical, sensory, and learning disabilities, and it will be exciting to explore how Sense Scotland might be able to provide this service to even more people in the future. Here are some short testimonials about the music therapy service from a parent, a staff member, and a client:
“Seeing [client] engage almost immediately as soon as he hears your voice is heart-warming. Anyone who has seen you interact with your clients would clearly see the benefits that music therapy can have.”
“Music therapy has made a real impact on [client] as part of his weekly programme, and especially in the last year or so we have seen a significant improvement in his ability to express himself and he talks much more to his support staff.”
“I really enjoyed it making music and interacting with David. Learning to play the piano, learning new songs, and writing songs helped build up my confidence.”
Written by David Limmer, Music Therapist