My working life ... Music therapist

Kate Jones is a music therapist, British Association for Music Therapy (BAMT) trustee and director of charity Music Therapy Lambeth, which delivers music therapy sessions at early years settings in London.

'Music therapy among children often addresses communication or special educational needs (SEN),' she says. 'I deliver weekly music therapy sessions to family groups and individual children. I also manage the team of five therapists and two volunteers at Music Therapy Lambeth.

'We work part-time hours, and a big day in the week is Tuesday. In the morning we hold an hour-long family session called Sign, Wriggle and Rhyme at the Maytree Nursery School. This is mainly for children with autism or suspected autism. We welcome five referred children and their parents or carer into a room, which is set up with cushions, colourful fabrics and lots of instruments.

'An SEN co-ordinator refers the children to us. At our group session they are aged three to four, although you can work with children from two or even younger.

'We encourage parents to model social interaction, playfulness and musical interaction. Gradually, the children join in and become more confident. We start each session by singing a hello song. We sing it to everyone in the group asking them how they are. If they can't say, they play a drum about their feelings.

'Then we do a variety of activities - for example, choosing an object from a sack. Each represents a song, which we sing and sign. The children can choose which instruments to play - we have many percussion instruments such as shakers, but also ukuleles and rain sticks. We also hand out props such as colourful scarfs.

'While we're playing music together, the group reflects on everybody's choice of instrument and playing. This encourages self-awareness and awareness of other people, and develops communication and interaction skills.

'A child with a speech difficulty may begin to communicate by going back to a developmental stage they feel comfortable with, such as babbling. As music therapists working with young children, we have studied child language development and can recognise these stages. We support the child and their parent to work musically through that stage of verbalisation.

'At the end of session we sing a goodbye song. As in a non-musical therapy session, there's a focus on talking about feelings. This develops over time and parents may talk to us before or after sessions.

'Afterwards, the therapists and nursery staff discuss outcomes. We talk about each child and often review a video of the group. We can see the therapy is helping if a child engages more with the group, interacts with other children and develops relationships with other parents.

'After this, I hold up to four more sessions at the nursery. One is a group without parents, the others are one-to-one. This approach is for more needy children, who might be experiencing trauma or bereavement. It is led by the child and is more improvisation-based and playful.

'The rest of the week, I run a pilot for similar group-based sessions in three more London nurseries. I also train nursery staff on positive psychology. A lot of the staff now use singing for children who find words difficult. Sometimes if you sing it's easier for them to process. Or with a child finding transitions hard, you can sing them through a doorway.

'Sometimes the work can be emotionally draining. All music therapists are encouraged to train to a high level in safeguarding because a child might reveal things to you. Therefore, supervision is an important part of practice and I have pre-arranged and emergency sessions with my supervisor. But mainly it's a rewarding, fantastic job.'

CV

Employment history

1998-2000 Evening class tutor at St Francis Xavier College

1999-2000 Music tutor at Morley College in London

2000-2000 Senior 2 music therapist, at Elifar residential homes in Surrey

2000-2003 Senior 2 music therapist, then senior 1 music therapist at the Royal Hospital for Neurodisability in Putney

2003-2006 Music therapist at Lambeth Music Service

2006-present Director, Music Therapy Lambeth

Qualifications

1992 BA music, Goldsmiths College, London

1997 Postgraduate diploma in music therapy, Roehampton Institute, London

2010 MA music therapy, Roehampton Institute

2012-present PhD in music therapy and selective mutism, Anglia Ruskin University

Training

Training as a music therapist begins at post-graduate level. Applicants are expected to have a music degree or diploma from a college of music. Occasionally students with qualifications in other subjects, such as education, are accepted but must demonstrate a high standard of musical performance. Students can then follow a graduate diploma or MA in music therapy. All music therapists must register with the Health and Care Professions Council to be able to practice, and must update registration annually with evidence of continuing professional development.

Useful websites

BAMT, www.bamt.org

Music Therapy Lambeth, www.musictherapylambeth.org.uk

NHS Careers, music therapist, http://bit.ly/1zljksj.