How Music Therapy works
Music therapy is delivered by HCPC-registered Music Therapists who use music intentionally and therapeutically to support individual needs through a structured, goal-focused approach. The focus is not on learning musical skills or performance, but on using music as a tool to support wellbeing, communication, and development. Sessions might include improvising together, songwriting, lyric analysis, or simply exploring sounds.
Lifting mood and provide space for emotional expression
Encouraging social connection and relationship-building
Support communication, speech, and language
Provide cognitive stimulation and meaningful engagement
In healthcare settings, music therapy can take place at the bedside, in one-to-one sessions, or in small and larger groups. Our Therapists adapt each session to the individual’s needs, energy levels, communication style and clinical context. Music can be used to reduce anxiety, support emotional expression, promote relaxation, encourage interaction, and work towards rehabilitation goals.
Our Therapists may also use Neurologic Music Therapy™ techniques to support functional skills such as movement, speech, cognition and coordination.
Who can benefit from our services?
Music therapy can support people across a wide range of healthcare settings and clinical needs, including:
- Children and adults in hospital wards, outpatient services and intensive care settings
- People experiencing pain, anxiety, trauma or distress linked to illness, treatment or hospitalisation
- Patients receiving oncology care or palliative care
- People recovering from stroke, brain injury or neurological conditions
- Children and young people with life-limiting or complex health conditions
- Patients needing support with communication, emotional expression, rehabilitation or adjustment to illness
- Families, siblings and carers who may also need emotional support during difficult healthcare experiences
- Staff teams looking to build confidence in using music as part of everyday care
Our Offer
We offer flexible music therapy provision that can be tailored to the needs of each healthcare setting. This may include:
- Bedside music therapy for patients who are unable to access group spaces
- One-to-one music therapy sessions
- Small and large group sessions
- Family and sibling sessions
- Support within acute care, outpatient services, intensive care and rehabilitation settings
- Music therapy for pain management and procedural support
- Support for people receiving oncology, stroke, brain injury, neuro-disability, complex care or palliative care services
- Parent, carer and staff training in using music therapeutically within everyday care
- Consultation with healthcare teams to develop music therapy provision that fits the needs of the setting
Why Music Therapy Matters
Healthcare experiences can be overwhelming, frightening and isolating. Music therapy offers a creative, person-centred way for patients to express themselves, connect with others, and feel more in control during treatment, recovery or end-of-life care.
For some people, music therapy provides emotional support and comfort. For others, it can help with communication, social interaction, motivation and rehabilitation. It can also create meaningful moments between patients, families and staff, particularly when words are difficult or when a person’s choices feel limited by illness or treatment.
Music therapy can support:
- Reduced stress, anxiety and isolation
- Emotional expression and processing of difficult experiences
- Communication and connection with family, carers and staff
- Pain management and procedural support
- Rehabilitation goals, including movement, speech and cognitive skills
- Recognition of a person’s identity, story and personal journey
- Improved wellbeing and quality of life within healthcare settings
“Every patient can relate to music but can struggle to communicate. The Therapist has such a warmth about her that patients relax and respond, enabling them to communicate in a way that is hard to achieve through other therapies.”
- Occupational Therapist at LTHT Neurosciences (Chapel Allerton)
Funding Options
We work with healthcare providers, charities, grant funders and community partners to make music therapy accessible within healthcare settings. Provision can be funded through hospital charities, NHS or hospice budgets, charitable grants, donations, sponsorship, or partnership funding.
We can support settings to shape a proposal, identify the level of provision needed, and provide information about outcomes and impact to strengthen funding applications or reports.
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Learn More
For more information about who and where we work and our team, please click on the links below