Music to Health
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Imagine tackling the churning anxiety making your heart race with accompanying feelings of nausea, or the depression preventing you from truly engaging with your life and those around you, or your racing thoughts obsessively going over the same material, or the sense of self-doubt making you feel as though you were an imposter in your own life. Perhaps you feel stuck and as if your life is a dead-end with nowhere else to explore, or you are struggling with a bereavement, or to make meaningful relationships with others, or even to develop a kinder relationship to yourself. Ian at Music to Health will help you to explore your struggles in a confidential, supportive, and safe environment, helping you to find your own solutions, and to develop a deep and kind relationship to yourself and your past.
Leroy came for sessions because he was having what he described as a ‘midlife crisis’. He was unhappy and stressed in his job, his mother had just come out of hospital following a stroke, and nothing seemed to hold meaning for him anymore. Through a mixture of music and imagery and guided imagery and music sessions, he explored his existential crisis, reconnecting with a sense of himself as a child, and re-evaluated his own ways of relating to others, and his close relationships.
“Ian was a caring and patient guide, and he helped me to journey through my dream-like images as they unravelled with the twists and turns of the beautiful music. I experienced long-forgotten memories and powerful emotions and was always surprised by the insights the sessions afforded to me. I felt able to explore the things that came up in the gentle, safe environment that Ian created.”
Anita had been physically abused as a child which caused a long-standing post-traumatic stress reaction in her, taking a deep toll on her self-esteem. Anita’s sense of herself, particularly in relation to others, was very fragile. In a sequence of supportive music and imagery sessions, Anita learned how to hold on to the positive resources in her life – the things within her which allowed her to thrive and function at her best.
“Over a period of one-year Ian carefully and skilfully helped me to reflect on some of the most challenging periods of my life through this creative and perceptive method. While at times I was taken aback by the depth and intensity of what came to the fore in my sessions, I always felt that I was in safe hands, and that the material that I was thinking about was something which I needed to work on. and able to explore through GIM. With Ian’s guidance, I was able to look into some aspects of my life which I have never felt able to face before. I am immensely grateful to finally feel that I have met, accepted and learned to love my past which is such a big part of my present. I wholeheartedly recommend Ian Grundy and GIM Therapy to anyone wanting to work out whatever challenges them in a gentle, creative and comprehensive way”
Ashif felt depressed and stuck. He was an older gay man with a long-term partner, who at work, socially, and within his family, felt accepted and valued for who he was. Something felt as though it was missing for him, however, and he could not seem to get himself out of the funk of feeling that he was failing all the time. In a series of increasingly profound guided imagery and music sessions, Ashif realised that he had really wanted to have children, and yet adoption had not been possible for gay men of his generation. In mourning for the children that he never had, Ashif began to feel unstuck and started being able to redirect his care outwards to other important relationships in his life.
“Ian's approach and demeanour made me feel extremely comfortable and I had no trouble opening up about personal experiences or images and topics that would arise during the musical journeys. It was a freeing way of exploring oneself without the pressure of having to arrive at concrete, practical conclusions about complex matters; rather, it encouraged me to look at myself in new ways and let my mind speak”
As a music therapist, Ian is a regulated by the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC), the British Association of Music Therapy (BAMT), and the Association of Music and Imagery (AMI) of which he is a Fellow. Guided Imagery and Music, and Music and Imagery approaches are well-established and powerfully effective therapies (for an overview of research into this type of therapy see: Grocke, 2010). In a study with cancer patients, Bonde (2007) found that the method gave the clients new perspectives on past, present and future; enhanced coping; improved mood and quality of life; enhanced hope; improved understanding of self; and a new love of music.
“This form of therapy feels unique in how sensorial and visceral it is – from the music that guides you through the experience to the images you draw to capture the travels afterwards – which has allowed me to tap into a deeper and creative part of my consciousness”
The first consultation session is offered completely free, with no obligation to continue, if the approach does not feel right for you.
​You don’t need to struggle on your own. You can help yourself to feel relaxed, focused and connected with others. Book your first free consultation session now!
​References
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Bonde, L-O. (2007). Imagery, metaphor and perceived outcomes in six cancer survivors’ BMGIM therapy. In A. Meadows (Ed). Qualitative Inquiries in Music Therapy, 3, Gilsum, NH. Barcelona Publishers.
Grocke, Denise. (2010). An Overview of Research in the Bonny Method of Guided Imagery and Music. Voices: A World Forum for Music Therapy. 10. 10.15845/voices.v10i3.340.
“Music gives a soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination and life to everything.”