Mary was confident enough to sit at the piano and bash up some chords. The words tumbled out of her – how scared she was and how she felt completely on her own. It was the first time she was able to articulate how she felt about being abused as a child.
“She had a song that she could put that into,” says Marianne Rizkallah, 35, her therapist.
Mary now could share it – or keep within the room. “It was her song, so it was up to her. That was very powerful for her, and she carried herself differently after that.”
Mary is a pseudonym for a patient of Marianne Rizkallah, the music therapist and owner of North London Music Therapy, in Finchley. After working as a music therapist for several years, she decided to start her own practice in 2019.
The studio is a cosy space with instruments – a drum kit, xylophones, two pianos, two guitars, and a team of seven Guildhall School of Music & Drama qualified music therapists. They help with problems including anxiety, depression, stress, and eating disorders.
“As music happens, you feel things. And as you feel things, you start to think: ‘Well, where did that come from? What does that mean for me?’. And then you start to talk about it,” says Rizkallah. “It tells you something about yourself that you didn’t know before.”
Music therapy is one of the 14 Allied Health Professions recognised by the NHS, along with speech and language therapy, or osteopathology.
Sara Valle does a mockup session with North London Music Therapy
Certified music therapists like Rizkallah and her colleagues are skilled musicians with a deep understanding of how music evokes emotional responses to calm, energise, or aid healing.
“It started being developed after World War I, when soldiers were coming back with shell shock and musicians were playing with them because there was no other way of reaching them,” says Rivka Gottlieb, 52, a senior music therapist and manager at the clinic.
Music therapy allows non-verbal expression of the emotions. Gottlieb says this is particularly important for autistic people, but also for those who struggle to articulate their feelings.
“Music is another way, another vehicle, to explore those emotions and to figure out what’s going on, and to express them and to process what’s happened to them,” she says.
Nikki Knight, 38, says music therapy has helped her four-year-old son to process the medical trauma of a cancer diagnosis and treatment, and to rebuild his trust. She explored other types of therapy before deciding music was the best fit.
“It helps him to express himself without needing to pinpoint what emotions are called. He can just be free to go with what he’s feeling in the moment and that can change from week to week,” says the blogger and content writer from Gloucestershire.
“The music therapist is very attuned to him and lets him choose the flow of the session and the instruments they use. With his treatment, he’s not had control for so much of the time, so being able to control things is wonderful for him.”
The first training in the UK began in the 1960s at the Guildhall. But it’s been used for therapeutic purposes for longer than that.
Beyond therapy, music influences physical and mental health. Throughout history, many cultures have embraced the healing powers of music. A report by Northumbria University says Native American Navajos used it in their rituals for both physical and spiritual health. And in traditional Chinese medicine, some music tones and rhythms were thought to harmonise the body’s energy and promote overall wellness.
Monica Roberts, 54, found her husband was having an affair and was going to leave her. The South African graphic designer and co-owner of a painting holiday company, who now lives in France, says she found the hurt and anger was eating her up.
She enrolled with a voice coach to learn to sing opera and channel her emotions. “It’s something that I had always wanted to do.”
“It gave me my confidence back but was also a very effective release from my anger and pain,” she adds. “I’m convinced that release of my voice in a controlled environment helped me let go of my anger.”
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