Speaker Series: Music & Mental Wellness

Melodies in a mad world: How does music help our mental health and how can we harness this?

Catherine Carr, Ph.D. is a music therapist in East London NHS FoundationTrust and a lecturer and research supervisor of MA in Music Therapy students. Her research focuses upon evaluating processes and outcomes in music therapy and wider arts therapies through mixed methods, process evaluation and randomised controlled trials. She completed her undergraduate degree in music technology at the University of York (UK) and trained as a music therapist at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. She completed her PhD in 2014 at Queen Mary University of London, where she is now currently Chief Investigator on the NIHR HTA funded ERA trial testing the effectiveness of group art, dance movement and music therapy for patients with mixed diagnoses in community mental health care. Catherine is a flautist and enjoys performing and recording with a range of independent artists.

Music at home: a coping agent for anxiety and depression in a time of isolation

Mara Sawchyn, MTA, is a music therapist of 10 years who has worked in the area of mental health in various populations including: tertiary complex elder care, refractory psychosis, and currently in acute mental health and addictions, and eating disorders. 

In her work as a music therapist in the St. Paul’s Hospital Mental Health Program, in downtown Vancouver, she has had her share of touching moments and heartfelt feedback from patients who have participated in music therapy sessions. In this time of lockdown and isolation, people at home who struggle with mental health have been especially affected. The good news is that there are several musical techniques that can and have helped in times of anxiety and depression; ways in which an individual can use music to relax and connect with themselves to find grounding in daily life.