Music Therapy Group

Shared music, individual expression

For a number of years we have run a weekly music therapy group at The Highgate care home. Each Thursday afternoon around 12-15 residents gather together, often joined by relatives and staff, forming a mixed-ability group with a wide range of physical, cognitive and communication needs.

Sessions are often lively, interactive and enjoyable. What makes them therapy is the clinical intention behind them — using music purposefully & thoughtfully to support wellbeing, communication and connection.

Within the group, each resident is supported to find their own way of participating and their own role within the shared musical experience.

Scroll down for some examples…

Although each person participates differently, the group creates a space where everyone can contribute and feel part of a shared musical experience…

The benefits of our music therapy group have been recognised in several Care Quality Commission inspections at the home.

“We observed a music therapy session which included eleven residents, each one in possession of an instrument which the therapist encouraged them to play. This was a very inclusive session which engaged all eleven people, regardless of disability or musical ability”
— CQC Report - The Highgate Care Home

Brian eagerly waits for the instrumental section of the session, where he takes his place on the conga drum — proudly describing himself as the “leader of the band”.

Sandra, who lost her speech, has started to use her voice communicatively again through music, singing confidently to ‘wa-ta’, sometimes with a microphone, with a voice that is tuneful and joyful.

Janette prepares for the group in advance, bringing printed lyrics of a song she has been practising in her room so that the group can sing and accompany her together.

Here, two residents promenade around the room singing and performing The Lambeth Walk, turning the moment into a joyful shared performance.

Rosie sits beside the piano in her wheelchair, slowly reaching across the keys despite very limited movement, drawn into the music through small but determined gestures.

More case studies...