How Music Therapy Supports Mental Health and Justice

Music’s unique ability to combine emotional expression, creativity, and therapeutic engagement makes it a powerful tool that can support mental health and provide ways of healing and rehabilitating individuals who have faced trauma or are involved in the criminal justice system.

How music therapy affects people dealing with trauma

Music therapy can be incredibly beneficial to people dealing with their trauma for the following reasons:

  • It helps with processing and expressing emotions

Music therapy gives people a safe, non-verbal outlet to express their emotions that could be hard to articulate otherwise. This can be done through playing instruments, listening to music, singing, dancing, etc. It can help people process complex emotions and reduce psychological distress.

  • It can reduce anxiety and PTSD symptoms

Research shows that music therapy can lower cortisol levels (the body’s stress hormone), and reduce anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms. Controlled or spontaneous situations, like composing songs, or guided imagery with music, could help people regulate emotional responses and promote a sense of safety. It could even be as simple as singing your favourite song if you’re feeling anxious or stressed.

  • It can help build resilience and confidence

Creating or engaging with music can help people with trauma rebuild their self-esteem, develop coping strategies and mechanisms, and regain their confidence in different situations. Music can also be a way to see that you aren’t alone, and shouldn’t be ashamed of who you are, or what you’re going through. Music can help manage stress more effectively, which can help you feel more at ease or like yourself.

 

How music therapy can benefit people in the criminal justice system

Music therapy can be crucial for individuals in correctional facilities because…

  • It can promote rehabilitation

In correctional facilities, music therapy can serve as a rehabilitative tool by encouraging individuals to reflect, build, or improve empathy and social behaviours. Activities like songwriting or performances and events can allow individuals to explore their emotions and bond and connect with others.

  • It can help address mental health needs

Many people in correctional facilities struggle with their mental health; with things like depression, anxiety, and unresolved trauma. Music therapy can offer a constructive and engaging way for these individuals to express themselves and relieve excess stress, and aggression and can potentially reduce the likelihood of self-harm and similar activities.

  • It can encourage collaboration and the growth of a community 

Group therapy or music-related events in correctional facilities can encourage teamwork, communication, and mutual respect. These events can reduce a sense of isolation and can help individuals in these facilities build and improve their social skills, which are all crucial for improving the state and relation of the community, as well as reintegration into society.

  • It can help empower those who feel silenced

Music therapy can be overwhelmingly impactful and empowering to those who feel silenced or excluded (and oppressed?), as it offers them a platform to share their stories and experiences. This empowerment is crucial for personal growth, the development and improvement of self-confidence, and inner healing.

Please just keep in mind that results can vary based on context, person-to-person, and the type of therapy that was conducted.

 

Examples of music in correctional facilities

  • Programs promoting emotional healing

Many correctional facilities host music workshops for inmates to write lyrics and perform songs. This process can help them confront past experiences and envision a different future with a new perspective, all with other people - doing these things alone can be tough and even just as traumatic as the original event.

  • Education focused initiatives

Some correctional facilities offer music education as part of a society-reintegration initiative. This could be anything from music theory to learning how to play instruments or produce music, and more. This can provide skills that can boost self-confidence and can potentially provide career opportunities for when they get out.

  • Reconciliation efforts, etc

In some cases, music can be integrated into the reconciliation process, where offenders (can) create music as part of reconciliation efforts, as well as fostering understanding and healing for victims and communities

  • BONUS: GOD BEHIND BARS

God Behind Bars is an organisation that aims to spread the word of God to people who are in prison. Started by Jake Bodine in 2009 they aim to ensure that every U.S. inmate has direct and personal access to the Gospel. They want to help them grow their faith, heal trauma, break addictions and cycles, and allow every person behind bars, no matter how far gone, to step into their calling as sons and daughters of the Most High. Every week their team goes to prisons to sing praise and worship songs, which is how they achieve many of their devotions, shake hands, create relationships, and pray for these inmates.

They also have a family reunification program, which helps show the love of Jesus in a tangible way to families that have been broken up due to a family member being in prison, as well as beginning the process of healing past traumas, and assist in growing and improving their relationships together to break the generational patterns of the future. This also allows children to experience time with their loved one in a non-hostile environment or visitation room - they can play games, get presents, do crafts, and enjoy a warm meal around a dinner table with their incarcerated parent.

As of late November 2024, they’ve established 70 church campuses and shared the gospel with over 2 million inmates.

They believe, “Revival is here, and it’s beginning in prison.”

 

Check them out:

Website: https://www.godbehindbars.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/godbehindbars/

FaceBook: https://www.facebook.com/GodBehindBars

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCjX-DqyxfDSZmOLbscjY7gw

Broader impacts

By identifying and addressing the root cause of individual criminal behaviour, like unresolved trauma, lack of emotional regulation, and limited coping mechanisms; music therapy can contribute to a more holistic approach to justice and personal improvement, as it emphasises healing and rehabilitation over punishment and discomfort. This aligns with efforts to create a more equitable and humane justice system.

Music therapy can show just how crucial creativity and empathy is and how it can change lives, offering not just a means of coping, but also a pathway to growth, reconciliation, and resilience. It also shows how the type of music we listen to can impact - positively and negatively - our personal growth, self-confidence, and often our mental health because if it can be used positively, it can also be used negatively…so be careful with what kind of music you’re listening to <3

 

Thank you so much for taking time out of your day to read this, and I hope the rest of your day is absolutely incredible!

xoxo, Indy <3

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