The Music Psychotherapist

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Music in Psychotherapy​

Music in psychotherapy is a way to connect beyond words. To begin to make sense of yourself and the world you're living in, without the need to describe what you're experiencing.

- Jacob

What is Music in Psychotherapy?

First of all, let me clarify a couple of things:
  1. This is not about music therapy
  2. I am not a music therapist
Music therapy is a distinct type of therapy (see BAMT, 2020). I offer psychotherapy, which is a form of talking therapy (see UKCP, 2023). So although it’s not all I do, I spend most of my time talking to people. So you might ask ‘why the hell do you keep talking about music?!’. Well music appears in psychotherapy more than you might expect, it can be a great tool to explore, understand and process our experiences (Butterton, 2016; Rogers, 1998).
 
Music in psychotherapy might be talking about the music you listen to, or exploring how you use music (e.g. to help you relax or listening when you feel socially anxious). It may also look like bringing a significant song into the therapy room where we listen and unpack it together. This is a therapeutic technique called ‘song discussion’ (Gardstrom & Hiller, 2010).

Why use Music in Psychotherapy?

Music can be helpful for a number of reasons, some examples include:
  • It might help you to share a feeling that’s difficult to verbalise.
  • It might offer a starting point to explore something you’re struggling with.
  • It may help you reconnect with a past experience. 
  • It could be a way to connect with yourself and regulate emotional wellbeing.
  • It could be a new route in to something that is at the edge of our awareness. 
  • For those of us that spend a lot of time thinking, it can be a way to connect with our feelings. 
  • It is a technique that can continue to be used after therapy finishes. 

There are many other impacts of bringing music into the therapy room but one thing that’s important for me is that you get to decide how (and if!) you want to use music in your sessions. This is because music can be deeply personal and connects with us in a variety of complex ways. So my therapeutic work is about exploring why music is important for you.

What it might be

  • Gaining a deeper understanding of yourself
  • Expressing and processing feelings
  • Listening to music you bring to the session
  • Talking about music listening in your daily life
  • Exploring how music affects you
  • Healing and processing trauma
  • Understanding why music is important to you
  • Finding new ways to explore and regulate emotion

What it won't be

  • Music therapy
  • Playing a musical instrument in session
  • Learning to read or play music
  • Me listening to all your music
  • A quick fix solution to all your problems
  • A tool that works for all aspects of your life
  • The only way to explore therapeutic content
  • Diagnosing a mental health condition from your music habits

Summary

Music in psychotherapy offers some people a different way to engage with the therapeutic process. There are many ways music may enter the therapy room but my work focuses primarily on exploring how and why listening to music impacts us.

As technology continues to advance, using music everyday is becoming more and more common, with many of us unaware of how much music is showing up in our lives or the impact it is having on us. Although music is a specialism of mine, it only features in a small portion of my work. So whether music is important to you or not, whether you listen to music everyday or not much at all, whether you love it or you hate it, you may surprised at what music has to offer. 

References

BAMT (2020). What is Music Therapy?. https://www.bamt.org/music-therapy/what-is-music-therapy

Butterton, M. (2016). Listening to music in psychotherapy. CRC Press.

Gardstrom, S. C., & Hiller, J. (2010). Song discussion as music psychotherapy. Music Therapy Perspectives, 28(2), 147-156.

Rogers, N. (1998). The Creative Connection. Foundations of Expressive Arts Therapy: Theoretical and Clinical Perspectives, 113.

UKCP (2023). What is psychotherapy?. https://www.psychotherapy.org.uk/seeking-therapy/what-is-psychotherapy/

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