Song Therapy
Song Therapy
Healing through sound is the medicine of the future. Rewrite the script of a favourite tune with a message that resolves a traumatic issue and that message makes new pathways in the brain, changing our patterns of behaviour. Tackling this in a session together is much like changing the words of a pop song to amuse your mates. Same skill, different application; we’re taking charge of our direction in the face of life’s stormy weather instead of being blown off course by it.
In a society beset by perceptions of lack and self-doubt we stand a better chance of happiness by creating it for ourselves. Song Therapy is a way of using the universal language of music to bring balance to the body, feelings, mindset and soul. Anthems to lift us up and inspire us, potent whether or not we wrote the songs ourselves; always on our internal radio even when the batteries die on our media players.
Each session is tailored to the individuals’ tastes. See below for some examples:
Existing songs
Preparation:
1 or more songs from the supplied lists (no extra charge); beginner or non-beginner.
Up to 3 songs not on the lists @ £15/song (discount £40 for 3 songs)
Suggestion: start with one song, build from there.
Session:
Example 1: Explore experiences around the song to access the therapeutic material/ problem area. Reflect together on the lyrics, the messages they reinforce – adjust them to fix the problem. Try it, check that it’s working.
Example 2:
Review:
Notes, practice, development
Writing a new song
Preparation:
If possible, suggest a subject for lyrics and/or the kind of sound world in which the song exists – e.g. lyrics could come from a conversation, quote, idea, image etc; sound world could be a style of music, a group of instruments or just a certain noise.
Begin with material then improvise song/sound
Type 3: Begin with sound, instrument or voice (or combine these)
A painting of flowers. A photo of an elderly man. An old bicycle bell. Rustling leaves. Electrical hum. A puppy barking. A baby laughing. Voices in the wind. (breaking wind – ha!)
A moment of trauma.
A moment of beauty.
Session:
Build the song together. Improvisation, structure and tools. Thinking outside the box.
Mood and intention. Attunement and crafting.
“I was chatting with another Dad at a kids’ party, and he asked me what I did for a living. I said I was a musician and I work with Sound Therapy and get people to write songs. He said ‘Oh, I couldn’t do that, I’m not creative.’ I asked what he did; he told me he worked for an estate agents as a builder. His job was to go into a building, look at what needed fixing, plan the repairs and carry them out. I said that the process was basically similar to writing a song for healing trauma of whatever kind. You go in, look at the problem, find out what’s wrong and invent solutions – that’s a creative act, and it uses the same skills, like architecture, improvisation and a method suitable for the task. The parts of the brain that are being used are the same in much of the process, and you’re improving your methods all the time. He saw my point.”
Therapeutic Song Writing
We start by gently kicking around a few ideas – maybe a tune you whistled, a few words from somewhere, an object, a memory; whatever’s relevant to the issue. I support with music in a big or small way, so no previous experience required. All is confidential and respecting boundaries around trauma support.
We aim for a point where the ‘therapy’ aspect is replaced by ‘just making music’. The whole idea of being ‘broken’ falls away from the frame, as it’s no longer relevant – the song reframes the experience of trauma. The person has enough access of their own creativity so that wellbeing is just something that goes hand in hand with the music-making. That’s a skill you can keep.
This may happen really quickly or may take time.
It might even happen in one session; or be glimpsed, and then that window gradually widened over a few sessions depending on the individual and the process our collaboration.