Teach Primary Issue 18.2

wearechroma.com Consider music therapy as a tool to combat anxiety and build confidence, suggest Lucy Collings Pettit and Adele Bird A s concerns about the mental wellbeing of school-aged children in the UK continue to rise, schools are increasingly turning to music therapy as a way to encourage self-expression and build self-confidence. This powerful and enjoyable intervention can also help support pupils to reduce and better manage anxiety, making it easier for them to cope in the school context and, ultimately, enabling them to learn and succeed. How it works We know children can sometimes struggle to articulate their thoughts and feelings, especially if they have early trauma backgrounds. In such cases, music offers an accessible way for children to communicate and express their feelings effectively, without words. Music therapy sessions are also very engaging and give children new opportunities to express and process their experiences, thoughts and emotions creatively, within the safety of an attuned and containing therapeutic relationship. Child psychologist Bruce Perry suggests that patterned, repetitive rhythmic activity supports regulatory processes, eliciting a sensation of safety and helping children to move from highly anxious to calmer states. Therapeutic group drumming, a model often used within Chroma’s music therapy offer in partnership schools, can be especially motivational for children, not least as they tend to find it hard to resist playing along! Drumming in a group context with peers can build conflict resolution skills through teamwork. It encourages positive social interactions, often with playfulness at the centre, through greater verbal and non-verbal communication. Drumming in this way can help reduce anxiety, and provide opportunities to explore and create a cohesive network of positive connections for children in school, promoting mental wellbeing and a sense of belonging. Therapy in action Chroma recently began delivering therapeutic music group sessions at Marland School in North Devon to support pupils with social, emotional and mental health needs. Using djembe drums, the sessions incorporate a variety of structured activities that focus on establishing group beats and collaboration. These include passing individual rhythms, maintaining a group pulse, and increasing and decreasing the volume and tempo of play — all to instil a sense of belonging, coherence and value in the group. As the djembe drums are played using hands, rather than sticks or beaters, the offer is highly accessible, which is especially beneficial for children who have low self-worth or a fear of failure. Children work proactively during these sessions, agreeing guidelines to determine how they want to complete the exercises together. While we suggest activities, pupils can bring their own ideas. And, to create a sense of empowerment, at planned end points the children have opportunities to showcase their group and individual progress, promoting their ownership of, and pride in, the work. Teaching staff are encouraged actively to participate, too, as it provides them with a valuable opportunity to observe the children in a different context, and connect positively with them outside of a formal classroom environment. The group sessions develop cohesion through familiarisation, and gradually reduce pupils’ anxiety through increased attendance, participation and engagement levels. They also provide opportunities to experience and develop regulation through those processes. Activities led by trained music therapists safely expose children to aroused states for short durations before moving back to a calmer state. This alternation between settled and aroused states can help their bodies to move out of fight and flight states more naturally. Expressing oneself can be a struggle for adults, so it’s easy to imagine the difficulties young children may face in self-expression, particularly when early trauma has occurred at the pre-verbal stage. Incorporating therapeutic drumming sessions into their school life will not only provide pupils with a safe space to effectively express themselves in a fun, creative way, but will also help them to grow emotionally and socially. TP The beat of THE DRUM www.teachwire.net | 65 MUS I C S P E C I A L Lucy Collings Pettit and Adele Bird are music therapists at Chroma. Chroma is the UK’s only national provider of the creative arts therapies.