How creative outlets can provide essential therapeutic support for children and adults.

How creative outlets can provide essential therapeutic support for children and adults

Creative arts therapies such as music therapy, art psychotherapy and drama therapy are effective in helping both children and adults cope with difficult situations. We speak to Daniel Thomas, Joint Managing Director of therapeutic service Chroma, to find out why it’s so important to establish non-verbal methods of expression.

When we first pick up the phone to Daniel to find out more about Chroma’s services, we’re excited to learn about how the creative arts therapies can be used to support both children and adults. Within previous issues of Social Work News, we’ve covered many different types of therapy (notably talking therapies and play therapy), so we’re always keen to find out about new ways of working.

Daniel’s passion for what he does is immediately clear; as well as being the Joint Managing Director, he is also a Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC) registered music therapist, as are many members of the Chroma Senior Management Team and Board of Directors. It’s something that they take extremely seriously – they believe that if they know what great therapy looks like, ensuring that the services they provide are hugely effective in supporting both children and adults. Chroma work closely with social services, health care settings and education providers.

Post-adoption support

A core part of their work is in helping children and young people, post-adoption, feel part of their new family. Daniel tells us why this is so important:

A family won’t necessarily need support throughout their entire lifetime, but we believe they should always be able to come back to their post-adoption support team when they need that extra support

Daniel Thomas, Joint Managing Director of therapeutic service Chroma.

“Within the framework of post-adoption, we deal with children who have been removed from their birth families for a variety of reasons which can include abuse, neglect or early life trauma. These issues can have a profound effect on that child’s personal development – for instance, they may struggle to self regulate or manage their emotions and it can be hard for them to feel part of a safe family group. We believe that when a child joins a new family, it’s not the end of the story – it’s just a part of the process. The new family may be left to deal with the impact of what happened to that child during the time spent with their birth family.

“Their anxieties or difficulties can be sparked off in stages, so we work in a systemic way to think about both the child and the parents. We create a safety net to support them by working alongside social workers to identify manageable goals, whether that’s simply being able to sit down together and enjoy a family breakfast or helping them to get to school on time. Our therapy is about understanding emotions and slowing processes down so that the child knows what may trigger them and empowering them with the knowledge of how to calm themselves down.”

Daniel firmly believes that lifelong post-adoption support should be available for children and parents in order to ensure that they are able to cope with changes that life may bring. He says:

“A family won’t necessarily need support throughout their entire lifetime, but we believe they should always be able to come back to their post-adoption support team when they need that extra support. In our view, the State should make a lifelong commitment to the family as the family has made a commitment to the child.”

There is a misconception about what music therapy and drama therapy are; it’s not about performing. It’s about using a creative force to address childhood experiences through non-verbal forms. Daniel explains that traumatic memories can be held in a different part of the brain, so it’s important for children to find non-verbal ways of explaining how they feel such as playing music, choosing art materials and colours, characterisation or even mask making.

If we can increase a walking speed by 10cm per second, their risk of falling decreases by 7%

Daniel Thomas, Joint Managing Director of therapeutic service Chroma.

“Using volume or colour can help explain something – e.g. loudly playing the drums or using the colour red can link to anger. We can then start to play softer music which helps a child to realise that they are calming down. In a way, we retrain their brains to move between a state of being calm, excited or angry and giving them the tools to come back down again. It enables the child to have more capacity to self-regulate and it’s why art therapies are so important”.

As practicing therapists, the Chroma team has worked closely with social work teams to establish a referral process that is swift and effective. Their services are funded by the Adoption Support Fund (ASF) which ensures their resources remain accessible to all. During the initial introduction, the Chroma referral team will have a free, no-obligation consultation where they request as much case information as possible, allowing them to prepare a fully costed case proposal on behalf of the social worker. Where possible (and with their consent), the team also speaks to the adoptive parents which allows them to establish a fully bespoke therapy service that is suited for that child.

Daniel says “Social workers have such a unique perspective, as do the parents, but perspectives aren’t always the same. It’s helpful to see how they may be thinking differently. As part of the case consultation, we look at what outcomes we can expect - a social worker may say one thing, but a parent may say something different. In our view, the case consultation is the start of the process. It’s about working with the family and social worker in a systemic and therapeutic way.”

Making referrals easy

The Chroma team has used their experience to create fully prepared plans which are ideally suited for social workers’ needs. They also provide the plans in a format which can be copied and pasted into funding proposals at specific word limits. The whole process has been designed to allow social workers to present the information into their chosen portal, ready to be sent off for approval. The result is a hugely effective service that sees many social workers return time and time again because they know how beneficial the therapy can be.

One thing that sets Chroma apart from other service providers is their commitment to holistic therapy. When it comes to adoption, they believe that support for parents is just as important. They have recently launched a new collaboration with Relate which specifically offers free post-adoption counselling services for adoptive parents whose child is working with Chroma.

“Our service provision funded through the ASF can only be used for the child, so we’ve always been limited in what support we could provide parents. We approached Relate to see if they could work with us and they have been absolutely brilliant. We now have a strong collaborative approach where Relate can use their experience and knowledge to provide up to six hours of individual therapy which is provided to parents free of charge” explains Daniel.

He continues: “As the fifth largest provider through theASF, we strongly feel that as an organisation which accesses taxpayers’ money, we have a responsibility to use our size and reputation to make collaborations like this happen. It is great that we can work with organisations like Relate to improve the lives of families which will make a real difference to outcomes.”

Providing specialist dementia care for older people

Chroma also works hard to support older patients.They have relationships with hospitals, care homes and occupational therapists to provide support particularly to those affected by dementia.

Neurologic musical therapy has been proven to be effective in stimulating the brain and re-engaging the sensory motors. For those who may have been impacted by a brain injury or progressive illnesses such as a stroke, Huntingdon’s disease or Parkinson’s disease, rhythm can really fulfil physiotherapy outcomes.

Daniel explains: “Someone with Parkinson’s disease, for example, may lose access to everyday memories and words, but melodies can be very ‘sticky’ in your mind.Recent research shows that dementia does not takeaway musical memories which is why we use melody as a type of scaffolding. In our sessions, we can use functional language such as “can I have a cup of tea”and say them to a memorable tune such as ‘Twinkle Twinkle Little Star’. We find that the repetition of the melody can help them to start bringing back their functional language skills. It builds on the part of the brain that hasn’t been compromised.”

Although musical therapy can be extremely powerful, Daniel stresses that it can evoke painful memories as well as positive ones. That’s why he recommends that social workers always use HCPC registered Arts Therapists, who are able to deal with the psychological and emotional side of therapy.

With older patients, particularly in care home settings, Chroma can work in group environments, as well as with individuals. Depending upon the referral criteria, the team can help improve walking speed of patients through simple exercises such as toe raises and pre-walking exercises through to walking. This is an important part of what Chroma does – they recently conducted research which showed that neurologic music therapy could prevent falls in those aged 65+.

“Fall risks lower as walking speed increases. If we can increase a walking speed by 10cm per second, their risk of falling decreases by 7%. This shows us that the faster you walk, the better your daily independence can be; someone who walks slower may require greater personal care. From a budgetary perspective, our research clearly demonstrates that working with a neurologic music therapist can potentially have a huge cost-saving for social work or hospital teams.”

Find out more

Visit wearechroma.com to find out more about Chroma’s services. Social work teams can book in for a free, no-obligation case consultation by ringing 0330 440 1838 or emailing referrals@wearechroma.com