Music aids recovery at Sheffield mental health hospital

Cygnet Hospital Sheffield, on East Bank Road, offers a Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS) and recently introduced a programme called ‘Music 2 Empower’, aiming to provide music sessions for service users and give them studio time to record.

In the latest episode of Music 2 Empower, Cygnet Health Care worked with young service user Emily, who discovered how playing music helped to express and calm her emotions.

Emily originally started on the keyboard whilst she was an inpatient at the hospital. She thought it would be a good distraction and found that, not only did she find it helpful when she felt low, but she enjoyed playing it as well.

Emily said: “When I play the piano it just makes me feel happier, it is calming. I just like the sound of it.

“The staff have been really helpful. They encourage me to play when they notice my mood has dropped. They know it helps.”

Fern, a Cygnet Health Care mental health nurse who worked with Emily, said: “Music has really helped Emily, in particular when she is in crisis. When Emily struggles to communicate her feelings verbally she can often express her emotions through the art of music and it has had a really positive impact on her.”

The first song Emily learned to play on keyboard was ‘My Heart Will Go On’, the Celine Dion song made famous as the love theme from ‘Titanic’. At the start Emily found playing the keyboard quite difficult but over time it got easier and easier.

Support and encouragement from staff and peers on the ward helped increase Emily’s confidence. On the support she received, Emily said: “Sometimes when I play other patients tell me it’s nice and that I’m really good at playing.”

In the latest Music 2 Empower video, Emily plays Ludovico Einaudi’s ‘Nuvole Bianche’.

Ali Curtis, Cygnet’s CAMHS Nursing Lead, said: “Music 2 Empower has been a great project for Emily to engage in. It’s so lovely to see how music can support people in their darkest times, and Emily plays her song so well. We know that music will continue to play a big part of her journey.”

Music 2 Empower is an initiative Cygnet Health Care originally launched in October 2019 and aims to harness the positive effects of music across our services. Music plays a fundamental part of most people’s lives as it can shape identity, culture, heritage and spiritual beliefs.

Harnessing the power of music can also help people across mental health care settings, where it is used to promote improvements in people’s social relations and connectedness, as well as building confidence and self-esteem.

To watch Emily’s Music 2 Empower video, go to: https://vimeo.com/788596628