Allie, a keen acoustic guitarist, grew up in a musical family where her mum sang classical opera and her dad studied the harpsichord. Allie self-taught how to play the guitar and said it became a “passion project”.
She explained the impact the programme was having on service users like herself. “Coming to a psych ward, its’s scary and new,” she said. “It seems so alien. Listening to music, sharing it and playing it, it bridges a gap and allows you to bond over something.
“Music is so important, if you look on any patient safety plan they’ll have listening to music as a distraction at least.”
Allie also explained the personal impact Music 2 Empower was having on her recovery.
“One of my go to distractions if I’m struggling is to play my guitar,” she said. “It brings people together. It allows you to be creative. Just free time where you can escape, go with the flow and forget about everything else.
“A lot of the times it’s hard to put yourself out there – it’s really anxiety inducing. But when someone gives you that opportunity it opens up a door that wouldn’t happen if projects like this didn’t exist.”
Cygnet Health Care launched the ‘Music 2 Empower’ initiative on World Mental Health Day 2019 and has since rolled out the programme across its hospitals, supporting music therapy-related projects throughout the organisation and allowing service users like Allie to showcase their abilities, give hope, inspire others and benefit from this well-established psychological approach.
Staff at Cygnet Hospital Bury have often collaborated with the young people through the initiative by playing musical instruments together and joining in with the singing. Lead CAMHS consultant at Cygnet Health Care, Dr Laurie Van Niekerk, said discussing music tastes and finding common ground through music helps staff to make connections with the young patients. He explained: “Music is a great unifier and healer. It is really important to embrace those talents in the young people we support.
“When they’re involved with the music, they can’t stop smiling. They had lost that side of things and it’s reminding them of their talent.
“It is so enjoyable to do something different together. There’s clear growing evidence music can help with anxiety so it should absolutely form part of the range of therapies that we offer.”
Dr Tony Romero, CEO of Cygnet Health Care, said, “Music is an important tool which can bring a renewed sense of purpose, achievement and motivation to reach personal recovery goals and ultimately this can have a hugely positive impact on mental wellbeing. Hearing from directly from service users about the life-changing impact this initiative is having on them and their recovery is very inspiring and I look forward to seeing more services benefit from the project.”
To find out more about Music 2 Empower and to watch other episodes, please click here.