For social workers, therapists, counselors, music therapists, and others who provide therapeutic groups.
Recently, I took a job as a treatment coordinator at an Intensive Outpatient Program, so I’ve been working on combining my history of music therapy with now being in the position of a social worker and one who provides more typical “therapy groups.” I’ve found that adding music, even a few minutes at the end of a group, completely captivates my clients, wakes them out of drowsiness or preoccupation, focuses the most disoriented, and brightens their faces. Here I’ve provided a couple of ideas that even the non-musical clinician can incorporate using music in their sessions.
The Open Process:
Materials needed: Songbooks, guitar/piano or karaoke sing-along disc with all of the songs you have in your songbook. This link is the contents to the songbook I use: Songbook Contents; I have 78 songs in my book and it is meant to appeal to all age groups, you do not need this many, 10 songs may be sufficient. However, I’ve found that these are some favorites, so you might just pick out the songs before 2000 for working with older populations.
Conduct your open process group normally for the first two- thirds of the group, then introduce the idea of singing and listening to music for mood management. Give your group a topic and ask that they choose a song that goes with that topic, such as healthy relationships, good communication, self-love, self-care, hope, inspiration, peacefulness, etc. When a client chooses a song, process how that song demonstrates the topic that you chose. For example, if “healthy relationships” is the topic, pick a line in the song that could be said to someone to repair or assert feelings in a particular situation, you could even roleplay saying this line, or ask who a client might say that line to.
When documenting, this activity can be considered mood management, emotion regulation skills, thought management, symptom management, concentration, and reality orientation. I’ve also found that singing a song can assist with linear thinking and mindfulness.
Example of symptom management: For a client who has schizophrenia, adding music to your session can provide for some incredible things to happen. For negative symptoms, such as impoverished speech or blocked thinking, singing a song uses different parts of the brain, so they are able to think clearly through the song, sing along, and interact positively with others. For a client who has auditory hallucinations, is preoccupied, disoriented, or expresses loose associations, singing a song can focus him or her and provide for a moment of reprieve or clarity.
An Assertiveness Skills group, aka, “communication skills”:
When teaching assertiveness skills, I like to begin with the basics: “I” statements and feelings. Then I move onto the four part formula: 1) When you, 2) I feel, 3) I wish or want, 4) If you could do that then. . .
When talking about assertiveness, often you’ll have clients that are not only working on being assertive with others, but they are also working on having assertive self-talk. So we can use this formula for that as well: 1) When I think. . ., 2) I feel, 3) I want to think, 4) If I could do that then. Often, this conversation then moves into problem solving and identifying next steps in achieving a thought or goal.
After processing assertiveness, save some time at the end for exploring the voice. As we all know, many of us communicate our assertiveness toward others using the voice. For some, exercising the voice is the hardest part of being assertive. So it is helpful to encourage your clients to PLAY with their voices. One of my favorite activities for this is “drum talk” created by George Grant.
In drum talk, each subdivision of rhythm has been given a sound word to accompany it. The quarter note is a “dome,” eighth notes are “gah-get,” sixteenth notes are “chicka-chicka,” and a quarter rest is “hmm.” There are all kinds of creative things you can do with these sounds, but to begin, just have your group say each one four times (in 4/4 time), then say them all together (pat your leg at a steady rhythm, 1- 2- 3- 4, Dome- GahGet- TakaTaka- Um). It will increase your groups’ alertness and brighten their affect.
For documenting, this can be considered an assertiveness skills exercise, communication skills exercise, can be used for mood (just watch your client’s faces!) management, and can assist with symptom management similar to the example I gave above.
Try it out! Let me know how it goes and how you used these ideas!
Until next time,
Davida Price, MS, MT-BC
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Tags: depression, group therapy ideas, mood management, musictherapy, schizophrenia, symptoms of mental illness, ways to feel better, ways to improve mood
Nice post Davida! I love your therapeutic writing voice and insights. One of my favorite graduate courses taught from the Yalom group text and I have found to be very helpful in thinking about group process. I have no doubt that you are very good at your position. I look forward to reading your posts.