S2 #05 How music therapy can support children through bereavement with Music Therapist, Marion Barton

When a child is struggling to express their feelings verbally, music therapy can be a suitable medium through which they can 'drum out' their feelings.

Listening to and creating music is a powerful connector to our feelings and emotions, and helps us to bypass our internal critic which can often override these. In these musical moments, real clarity can be gained about our lives as the child, and the child inside us comes out to play.

Music Therapy is an established psychological clinical intervention, delivered by HCPC registered music therapists to help people whose lives have been affected by injury, illness or disability through supporting their psychological, emotional, cognitive, physical, communicative and social needs.

Music Therapists draw upon the innate qualities of music to support people of all ages and abilities and at all stages of life; from helping new born babies develop healthy bonds with their parents, to offering vital, sensitive and compassionate palliative care at the end of life.

Central to how Music Therapy works is the therapeutic relationship that is established and developed, through engagement in live musical interaction and play between a therapist and client. A wide range of musical styles and instruments can be used, including the voice, and the music is often improvised. Using music in this way enables clients to create their own unique musical language in which to explore and connect with the world and express themselves.

About Marion
Marion Barton is a Music Therapist with Shooting Star Children’s Hospices.  She works with children with life-limiting conditions, their siblings and bereaved siblings.  Marion has been a Music Therapist since she graduated from the MA in Music Therapy at Roehampton University in 2011 with the Department of Psychology Prize for her dissertation project studying the impact of spirituality on therapists’ work with palliative clients.  Marion’s research has been published in the British Journal of Music Therapy and she has contributed her time as a peer reviewer for another journal.  Marion has worked with a wide range of clients during her time as a therapist, but has always held a special interest in palliative care and supporting children with emotional and behavioural difficulties including bereavement.

The hospice website is: https://www.shootingstar.org.uk/

British Association of Music Therapy Website is: https://www.bamt.org/

Connect with Marion on LinkedIn

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Visit my website to download my free eBook 10 Simple Play Therapy Techniques You Can Use To Help Your Child With Grief, Loss and Change

If you are supporting a bereaved child, or know someone who is, you can purchase my books - Isaac and the Red Jumper (for 4-10 yr olds) and Helping Children Cope with Loss and Change

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