Mood Music
Music can have a powerful effect on our emotions. The right track at the right moment can affect our whole day. Certain music can shake us out of a bad mood, calm us down, and even remind us of specific moments from our past like it was yesterday.
Whenever I hear certain Disney songs it takes me right back to listening to an LP my mum would put in in the living room when I was a wee boy. With ‘80s music more widely appreciated these days, memories of school discos, first kisses and borrowed cars can be conjured up in moments.
With the power that music has, it’s no surprise then that it can be a great tool for supporting mental health, and especially in a counselling environment.
This is taken to its highest level in Music Therapy. This is a very specialist form of creative therapy where instead of traditional talk therapy, listening to or participating in music will be used to help in lots of different ways like processing difficult experiences and tackling depression and anxiety. It can have very strong results for the right situation.
I’m not a Music Therapist myself but I’ll often encourage clients to use music as a tool for helping them regulate their emotions and support stability. It can be especially useful if a client has problems articulating their thoughts, or gets easily overwhelmed.
As an example, to get things started, I’ll often suggest getting together three simple playlists that the client will use:
Playlist if something has upset us. (Usually favourite music we know puts us in a good mood).
Playlist to motivate us and keep us going if there’s something we need to get done (dance music can be especially handy here).
Playlist for winding down and getting us ready for bed.
What might be in those playlists is entirely up to the client, and working with associations that the client already has can be an important part of putting the client back in the driving seat. Restoring a sense of control can give us a starting point for further work in counselling
If you’d like to work with me on your mental health, you can get in touch with me via the website or directly at mckellar.scott@gmail.com
