This project was delivered in partnership with the Brighton Women’s Centre

The aim of the project was to offer women a creative therapeutic alternative to talking therapy. The non-verbal emphasis of the project offered participants a much-needed safe space to explore their feelings without words.  

Belltree therapists offered 3 types of music therapy groups with online and in-person options:

• Music & Mindfulness groups (online) enabled the women to recognise and better understand the connection between mind and body in relation to trauma, and used guided musical activities to explore how this could help them to regulate their nervous system.
• Vocal Psychotherapy groups (in person) enabled the women to discover and explore their singing voice in a non-judgemental and supportive space, and understand the connection between their voice and their emotions in the past and present through vocal exercises, improvisation and song.  
• Improvised Music Therapy groups (in person) offered a chance to discover new ways of relating through musical improvisation with instruments and voice, and the discussion of common themes such as listening, empathy and togetherness.

Number of participants: 18 across the three groups

What did the participants say?

“Who would have thought that humming some notes could change your way of thinking. As the group started to establish itself I felt that I was really starting to be part of something huge, not the group but for me. I lost all the worries of making noises in front of people and pushed onwards, this was only doable I believe because of the way Tina facilitated the sessions. It became wonderfully emotional and every bit exciting.”  

“I am a person that really does not like to use too many words for many reasons so being able to sing a song that has no real word meanings but with word types was beyond perfect.”

“Linda is a really incredible and open facilitator and has helped me understand and start in finding my voice, the body movements we did each session and noise making helped reduce my anxiety every time. I just really wanted to provide this positive feedback because its really made a huge difference to my life and recovery over the last however many weeks. Linda is a joy and I am very grateful.”

“It felt really radical to be in a group of women playing music together. I would love to continue that on really.”

What were the benefits of this project?

Many benefits were reported by the women around empowerment, mood, sense of personal value and connection with others.

Thank you to the Sussex Crisis Fund for enabling this work.