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The Benefits of One-to-One Sessions in Mental Health Settings by James Stanley (Quench Arts' Wavelength Music Facilitator)

If you have ever experienced Mental Health personally on any level you’ll no doubt agree with the following sentiments and feelings:

“It’s like a constant cycle of emotion, of questioning yourself and your own mind. Some days feeling on top of the world and others like you’ve hit rock bottom. Sometimes you feel like you can achieve anything; other times you feel totally worthless and like your ideas will never amount to anything.”

If you have ever experienced Mental Health personally on any level you’ll no doubt agree with the following sentiments and feelings: 

“It’s like a constant cycle of emotion, of questioning yourself and your own mind. Some days feeling on top of the world and others like you’ve hit rock bottom. Sometimes you feel like you can achieve anything; other times you feel totally worthless and like your ideas will never amount to anything.” 

Any artist will probably agree that these feelings are reminiscent of the creative process, that they are familiar to anyone who has tried to express themselves through any art form. 

In my opinion, this similarity means it makes perfect sense to use songwriting as a way of coping with Mental Health conditions. It was with this knowledge and understanding that we began a programme of music making with a group of young people that are currently Mental Health Service Users in a Forensic CAMHS Unit in Birmingham (part of Birmingham and Solihull Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust) as part of Quench Arts’ Wavelength Project. It was a conscious decision to work with these individuals on a one-to-one basis and it wasn’t coincidence that the outcomes were so positive.

There are many reasons why this approach worked so well but, for the first, I’d like to draw on the fact that making music (or any creative process in fact!) is, as we mentioned, a means of expressing oneself. How easy do you find talking about yourself in front of a large group? Whilst some may be more confident than others, we would all agree that the less people are around, the easier it is to discuss and talk about things that are going on in our minds and lives. So how important that these young people, many of whom have been through complex, challenging circumstances and situations in life already, are given the opportunity to express themselves in a setting where they are supported and feel comfortable. So many of the songs written in our sessions were written about very personal matters; how one young man felt about his mum, experiences of how prison and isolation have affected an individual - the list goes on. It’s important to say some of this out loud. Would these subjects have been broached if there were several people in the room? More than likely, not. Writing songs or creating art collaboratively is a fantastic experience but it’s one that always involves compromise, changing or diluting what we want to say so that it ‘fits’ everyone in the room. There is a time for compromise, this was not it. These sessions were a time for each individual to have ultimate control, to talk about anything that was on their mind - to express themselves and come to terms with some of the things going on in their complicated and difficult lives.

From a purely musical point of view, it’s nice to work in a one-to-one environment too. Even with some of our closest friends, it’s not uncommon to have wildly different musical preferences! When working with individuals, we can tailor the music to the preference of that specific person. In my experience, this almost negates the issue of engagement than can be so crippling in group scenarios. The beginning of most of our sessions started with a discussion about the kind of music that individual was interested in, what inspires them and what they would like to be able to achieve. We could then spend the rest of the session making a Hip-Hop track, an Acoustic Guitar focused track or a Rock track, rather than having to say, “Today we’ll be working in this style whether you like it or not because we all happen to be in the same room at the same time.” This means the young person is 100% focused and engaged from the word go.

Working one-to-one of course benefits the learner but it’s good to remember how much it benefits the artist too! A session where we can focus all of our time on one individual enables us to be so much more productive and leave much more of a legacy. To illustrate what I mean - I’ve worked with groups doing the exact same exercise. Writing songs, recording them using software and instruments. Many of the outcomes have been the same. We have the same quality of musical output, the enjoyment has been good for all the participants, and the confidence of many has likely improved. However, when I come to the end of my sessions with that group, will they be able to continue without me? Will they be able to operate the software? Will their instrumental skills be developed enough? Over a short period of time, probably not! However, of the individuals I’ve worked with one-to-one on this project, I’m proud to say that the vast majority of them will be able to continue making music on their own because I’ve been able to spend the time with them teaching them additional and more in depth skills so that they can operate the software without me there, they know enough about their instrument to continue writing and creating original music; because we worked one-to-one they will be able to continue expressing themselves long after we’ve gone.

It also means that we can get to know individuals a lot quicker. I knew when I could push that individual to achieve more and when I had to hold back and commend them for what they were already doing. We were able to create a comfortable environment that they enjoyed making music in. An environment that they felt so relaxed in that, by the end of the project, they wanted to invite others along to their session either to collaborate or listen to what they’d created. Simply put, it led to organic and productive group sessions. Obviously group sessions have their place and benefits and can develop a whole different skillset. As we mentioned earlier, there is a time for compromise and collaboration with many lessons and we can learn from it. This meant that, by their own choice, many individuals were able to get a very rounded set of outcomes and benefits from working both by themselves and with others. 

Remember the initial feelings and emotions we mentioned? “Some days feeling on top of the world and others like you’ve hit rock bottom. Sometimes you feel like you can achieve anything; other times you feel totally worthless and like your ideas will never amount to anything.” By means of our approach we were able, through the medium of music, to be there and help when the young people came to us on a day when they were feeling rock bottom but also recognise when they were feeling great about themselves and celebrate with them. We were able to treat every participant as an individual with individual problems, interests and needs and, for that reason, I hope we were able to have a positive impact on the participants’ lives.