Health & Wellbeing

Mental health and wellbeing column: a career in music therapy

Dr. Simon Procter, director of music services at music therapy charity Nordoff and Robbins, discusses his journey to becoming a music therapist and the benefits from both a personal and professional perspective.
Enable Glasgow, Sept. 2022
Enable Glasgow, Sept. 2022 - Ed Hill

Many people tell stories about how they use music, especially music-making, to sustain their mental health and wellbeing. For some, this is a private matter done alone at home: playing an instrument, writing songs or producing music on a laptop. For others, it’s primarily a social thing: they find singing in a choir or playing in a band a meaningful way of being with others, feeling aesthetically fulfilled and thriving.

But equally, many musicians describe how professional music-making is an uncomfortably competitive business in which they feel powerless or even exploited. This can be profoundly damaging to their mental health and wellbeing – and it’s no surprise that many musicians fall out of the profession due to stress and overwhelm.

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