Dr Tony Romero, Cygnet Health Care CEO, is committed to delivering innovative and effective therapies to service users. In October 2019, Cygnet Health Care launched its groundbreaking Music 2 Empower initiative with the goal of reaping the positive effects presented by music therapy across the company’s services.
Music plays an important role in people’s lives, shaping their identity, heritage, culture and spiritual beliefs. Many people listen to music in order to relax. Music also has the ability to connect with people on a very deep and personal level.
Experts have been harnessing the power of music therapy across mental health care settings for some time now, using music to help promote social connectedness. Music therapy can also help to build self-esteem and confidence.
Raf Hamaizia serves as an Expert By Experience lead for Cygnet Health Care. He has seen how music can help people experiencing mental ill-health and how it presents an opportunity for individuals to place themselves at their recovery’s heart. Music therapy is an effective means of encouraging people to open up channels of communication, helping them to address problems in their past and helping people to talk about their experiences and feelings, he suggests.
Through therapeutic services and recovery colleges, Cygnet Health Care service users are encouraged to write, play, share and perform music. The programme even paves the way for participants to record their music in professional recording studios, and Cygnet Health Care has produced short films showcasing the diversity of talent across its services.
Alan is a service user and keen drummer who has spent the past 14 years in hospital due to neurological damage caused by an attack. For him, the initiative has enabled him to use his music as a tool for recovery. Alan says the Music 2 Empower programme has given him renewed confidence and additional motivation to recover and be discharged, explaining that without music he would not be here. As Alan explains, when playing the drums he is not mentally ill anymore. Prior to his injury, Alan spent 10 years learning to play jazz rock, an ability he is having to relearn. However, the difference now is that Alan knows he can do it thanks to the Music 2 Empower programme.
As Dr Tony Romero can attest, expressing yourself through music and being creative is an important outlet for many service users. Dr Romero expressed his pride at seeing the impact the initiative has had across so many of the healthcare provider’s services. Dr Romero indicated that although a person’s connection to music can be incredibly personal, projects such as Music 2 Empower enable service users with shared experiences to come together, providing the benefit of being around like-minded people.
Cygnet Health Care’s launch of the Music 2 Empower programme coincided with World Mental Health Day 2019. Cygnet Health Care has since rolled out the initiative across its hospitals, supporting music therapy-based projects across the organisation, providing other service users with the opportunity to showcase their abilities, and offering hope, inspiration and other benefits through this well-established psychological approach.
