Amelia Clapham, Senior Music Therapist and Founder of Ace Music Therapy CIC reflects on her experience of music therapy supporting children’s mental health in the current climate. 

It is safe to say that there is a mental health crisis currently affecting the UK. The public sector is struggling with long waiting lists and people are often offered short term support or medication, which does not always get to the route of the problem. This results in people struggling more and more, and often having to turn to private services to get urgent support. At Ace we have seen a HUGE increase in demand for our services as people are being let down by the public sector. 

Music therapists are HCPC registered therapists who work with people of all ages and abilities using music to achieve a variety of therapeutic aims. Mental health is one of the key areas we work in, supporting emotional wellbeing by offering a safe space for the expression of emotions using the non-verbal medium of music. After all, talking therapies do not work for everyone. 

It is important to note here that music therapists are fully qualified therapists and only people who have a professional registration and qualification can call themselves music therapists. There is currently a waive of coaches and people calling themselves therapists or creative therapists who are not actually qualified. This can do more harm than good…so please be aware when searching for the right support! 

Music therapy not only offers a safe space for clients to express themselves however they feel comfortable, but also a unique opportunity to access the subconscious through the medium of improvised music making (playing music together). Music therapists are uniquely trained to carefully listen and attune themselves to the client, meeting them wherever they are at emotionally and supporting them through it. 

My clinical work as a music therapist centres around supporting children – working in a school for children with Autism, supporting children in the local community and working within a children’s hospice. My approach to supporting them is entirely child led – every session is different and is no set protocol to the sessions – except for explaining the boundaries and expectations of what the sessions are for. The music therapist takes their lead from the client, working with whatever they “bring” into the session (physically, emotionally, verbally, musically). Some weeks the client may just want to listen to live or pre-recorded music, other weeks the client may want to engage in live music making or song writing and sometimes the client may wish to just simply talk about their week. 

I have seen vast improvements in children’s mental health when supporting them through music therapy. One example is a child who struggled hugely with school due to his lack of emotional regulation. Music therapy offered him a space to be creative and make music in away that was comfortable for him and a space to start to process and understand how he was feeling. Previously he struggled to stay in his class and often needed 1.1 support outside of the classroom, but now he is in class for the majority of the week. Sessions with him focus around songwriting, specifically re-creating some of his favourite songs and exploring the meaning of these songs together. His mum reflects on the benefits of the sessions: 

“My son absolutely adores his sessions with Amelia every week and really looks forward to them, sometimes they are the main reason we can even get him to school on a Tuesday. Nate had never really had or shown much of an interest in music before his sessions and now he’s developed his own music taste, makes himself different playlists for different events and situations, has his own ukulele which he tends to strum on when he’s feeling a little upset to overwhelmed and loves using garage band to compose his own music. He recognises his favourite songs from just a note or two and they really help him whether it’s to keep him occupied while stuck in traffic or travelling or to enhance his imagination when playing. Amelia’s session with Nate have become priceless to us and to Nathan.”

Another example is a child I see weekly at school. She has some health conditions as well as autism and suspected ADHD. Each week she uses the space to create a story/narrative with a musical soundtrack. The content of the stories are relative to how she is feeling and often feature aspects related to things that have happened at school/home. The space offers her a chance to process aspects of her life and time where she can be in control/take the lead. Her learning support assistant commented “in the whole time I have worked with her I have never seen her express herself like this. Music therapy is so powerful.”

Working with life limited children, music therapy offers them a unique opportunity to explore how they are feeling about their diagnosis without the need for words. With one client, we started sessions with emotion stones, playing games and helping him to understand the different emotions. Gradually he was able to use sounds and started to share examples of when he felt certain emotions. The first few weeks were all about relationship building, and gradually he started to engage more with the music. He particularly enjoyed the keyboard and we would start by taking turns to “copy” each other and then this led on to creating song stories, again offering him an opportunity to express himself. He has recently transitioned back into school and music therapy has given him a space to share his fears about going back to school and then share the positives about his experiences in school. 

As professionals working in mental health it is paramount that we support our own mental health too, as how can we help someone if we can’t help ourselves? We need to practice what we preach! This is why we have clinical supervision – a space to explore and reflect on the content of sessions with a qualified clinical supervisor. Self care is also hugely important, personally I enjoy going to the gym and doing the odd triathlon in my free time, as well as spending time with families. 

*Did you know at Ace we also offer clinical supervision to professionals? If you are working in children’s mental health and would like support please get in touch* 

So as you can see there are many different ways music therapy can support children’s mental health. Here are some ideas for how you could use music to support the children you are working with….

• Find out the child’s favourite song. Spend time listening to it together and then maybe re-create or re-record your own version. 
• Compose a song together – you could take a simple nursery rhyme and change the lyrics, or create a new song from scratch
• Use music for relaxation – do a guided meditation or put some music on and read a guided meditation. 
• Play music together using a variety of instruments and play simple games such as changing the speed, pitch, starting and stopping the music. Take turns at controlling the music. Reflect together on the experience. 

If you, or someone you know is struggling with their mental health, or you would like to know more about using music to support mental wellbeing, do get in touch. Ace Music Therapy offers not only in person sessions but also online too. We also provide clinical supervision too. Ace Music Therapy is a non profit social enterprise delivering music therapy and community music services across Essex, London and Norfolk. 

www.acemusictherapy.co.uk info@acemusictherapy.co.uk socials @acemusictherapy