Music and Imagery Psychotherapy
In addition to being a UKCP-registered Psychotherapist, I am also an HCPC-registered Music Psychotherapist. I offer individual Music Imagery Psychotherapy; and am currently the only UKCP Psychotherapist trained to offer this.
Music Imagery Psychotherapy rests upon a long tradition which recognizes the transformative power of music to go sometimes where words can't. It enables us to explore our inner world, our ‘unconscious’ in safe, gentle yet poweful ways. We all have a 'right-brained' intelligence, a more embodied, creative way of understanding ourselves, which generally is underused. Music Imagery Psychotherapy taps naturally into this, thus gentlly challenging our fixed ways of being.
As a uniquely flexible modality, this therapy can also be skilfully integrated into standard Psychotherapy, often getting quickly to the heart of an emotive issue. Some of the restorative aspects can also be used to build up the inner resources prior to EMDR processing.
Sessions are usually offered face to face but I can also offer these online.
Although Music Imagery Psychotherapy may appeal to musicians and creative people, absolutely no musical background is required to benefit from this therapy.
Accordion
Music Imagery Psychotherapy is an offshoot of Guided Imagery in Music created by the renowned American music therapist Helen Bonny. These sessions are carefully structured and seek to integrate into your life the natural healing, imaginary capacities of music. Essentially it works by activating your nervous system gently with carefully chosen pre-recorded music.
title="What happens in a session?"
In the first session I do an intake questionnaire and then there is an opportunity for us to try out the process, to explore how it may best benefit you going forwards.
In the following sessions, the basic structure is:
- Check in and sharing a current issue or problem.
- Identifying an issue to work on and collaboratively choosing the ‘right’ pre-recorded music.
- Short relaxation and focus upon the issue, preparing for the music-drawing.
- Music is played which helps deepen your exploration of the issue as you mark-make with pastels on paper.
- Discussion to integrate new positive insights, feelings, resources.
Why use music?
Although using prerecorded music may sound uninspiring, the music which will feel ‘right’ for you in this setting may become powerfully transformational. This is because as research suggests, music which speaks personally to you will tap very quickly into deeper areas of your mind, cutting through superficial busyness, engaging underused parts of the right-brain, the source of your imagination and creativity. The music may also have subtle but powerful effects upon your body and healthy, parasympathetic, nervous system, evoking deeper calming feelings of wellbeing.
The music choice therefore is an important point in the session, done collaboratively, although my training enables me to guide you towards the fertile possibilities. Often, the ‘right’ music becomes a change agent, beginning an inner process from which may emerge new positive feelings and perspectives.
As I have stated, no artistic ability whatsoever is required to benefit, as it taps into your natural human responses to music and imagination. Recent neuroscience has described the healing effects of cross-hemispheric links, using our left-brained language to make sense of right-brained non-verbal processes. This is something I sense often happens during the closing discussion when people share about new feelings, and ideas which help change their outlook. The power of music means that these sessions are completely bespoke; the right music within this setting from whatever genre, speaking personally to each being, regardless of age or background.
Who can benefit?
Given the stresses and strains of modern living, I believe most people would benefit from this cutting-edge therapy. It is especially helpful for people experiencing the following:
- Anxiety
- Depression, low moods
- Bereavement, loss
- Relationship problems
- Work problems
- Addictions of different types
- Health problems, illness or disability
- Difficult life transitions
- Life as lacking purpose or meaning
- Feeling out of touch with their natural creativity
- Would like to experience more beauty (of music) in their lives
If you would like to explore if this feels right for you, please feel free to get in touch and ask me any questions.
What are the benefits?
These will of course depend upon what you bring and most need from these sessions. The process deepens over time, clients have typically reported the following:
- Feeling connected to a calmer place inside.
- Feeling more hopeful about the problem. Feeling more resourced.
- Feeling more energised and motivated to tackle an issue.
- Feeling moved by the music and connected in a positive way, rather than avoiding feelings.
- Able to accept and sit with difficult scary feelings.
- Feeling more patient and compassionate with self.
- Feeling more emotionally balanced.
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