The Settings Where We Work
Neo-Natal
Neo-Natal
Music therapy is used in neonatal wards to encourage soothing for babies, regulating of heartbeats, decreased anxiety, pain management, increased wellness and bonding with parents and nursing staff.
Early intervention
Early intervention
Music Therapy greatly encourages early learning such as play, vocalising, sharing and focus and can support academic and social and emotional growth
Early years work
Early years work
“Creative self expression offered in an interactive therapeutic environment can support many aspects of emotional, cognitive and physical development.”- BAMT
Mainstream work
Mainstream work
Music therapy is an appropriate intervention for all and in mainstream work music therapists offer a particularly powerful way for children to engage in therapy that bypasses the need to translate feelings into words. Music therapy is engaging, enticing, creative and an effective way to explore and process feelings.
Autism
Autism
Music therapy can be a powerful way for children on the Autistic Spectrum to connect, communicate and play. Music therapy is child-led and the therapist uses their music to meet the child where they are, join them and encourage play.
Family Work
Family Work
Family Music therapy offers a space to play together, supported by the therapist, and there is no expectation of musical skill. It is a space where we come together playfully to hear one another.
SEMH
SEMH
Music therapy encourages positive development in social, emotional and psychological health and wellbeing.
Profound Needs
Profound Needs
Music reaches people, it offers opportunity to engage, to have a voice, to experience effective self expression and to connect. No musical skill is required to engage in music therapy and the therapist uses their music to reach people and encourage positive relationships.
Complex Trauma
Complex Trauma
Music therapy offers a safe and structured space where the non-threatening, non-verbal means of communication and play is through music. Music is naturally inviting and the therapists are highly trained in offering long-term, accessible therapy to those who will benefit from a safe space to explore and process difficult feelings in a healthy, consistent therapeutic relationship.
Forensic
Forensic
Bypassing the need for words, music therapy can offer a non threatening means of forming good, healthy therapeutic relationships.
Songwriting
Songwriting
A song can be a safe container for words that are too raw to speak. A music therapist will help weave a complex story into a simple refrain, held in sound.
Hospital Work
Hospital Work
Music can help to reduce stress and anxiety, it can even alleviate pain. Music therapy sessions can be accessed on the ward in open groups, or bedside work with individuals.
Dementia
Dementia
Music accesses different parts of the brain than language, so music can be used to communicate or engage with someone who has been diagnosed with dementia, even if they no longer speak or respond to other people’s words.
Addiction Treatment Centres
Addiction Treatment Centres
Many addicts discover that music-making allows them to be fully present – they come to find that losing themselves in music is more beneficial that some of the other coping strategies they have relied on in the past.
Palliative & end of life care
Palliative & end of life care
Music Therapy is the ‘active total care of patients’ and involves ‘the use of sounds and music within an evolving relationship between client and therapist to support and encourage physical, mental, social, spiritual and emotional well-being.’- British Medical Journal
Individual Sessions
Waves Music Therapy provides individual sessions across the South East in schools, day centres, hospitals, hospices, our studio, and clients’ homes.
Sessions typically last 30–40 minutes but can be adjusted based on individual needs. Music therapy offers a safe, non-verbal way to explore emotions and build a therapeutic relationship. A variety of instruments, including piano, guitar, and percussion, are used, and no musical experience is required.
Individual sessions are from £60. Waves can advise on funding and subsidise costs for those in need. A minimum 10-week commitment is required, with progress reviewed and recommendations made for further support.
Music therapy can |
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|---|---|---|---|
| Reduce stress and anxiety. | Facilitate communication. | Build relationships and develop interactions. | Enable an individual to experience and process difficult feelings non-verbally. |
| Provide a space where the client can be freely creative. | Increase awareness of self and others. | Practise social skills. | Provide an opportunity to build confidence and a sense of agency. |
| Enhance motor skills, fine and gross. | Encourage vocalising and verbal skills. | Develop skills such as turn-taking. | Explore challenging behaviour. |
| Support aspects of stages of development, including non-verbal interaction, play and language. | Provide a safe and cathartic space for the release of feelings. |
Group Sessions
Group music therapy fosters peer interaction, social development, and a sense of community through active music-making. It provides a space where everyone can be heard, connect, and express themselves—especially those who struggle with verbal communication.
Unlike spoken conversation, music allows multiple voices to be heard simultaneously, creating a shared experience. Sessions involve a minimum of three participants and last between 30–50 minutes, depending on group needs.
Group sessions are from £90. If cost is a barrier to accessing our service, please contact us to apply for financial support.
Rap, Spoken Word & Songwriting Workshops
Our rap, spoken word, and songwriting workshops are led by professional artists and can be delivered as individual, group, or whole-class sessions. These workshops provide a powerful creative outlet for self-expression, helping participants develop confidence, communication skills, and a sense of identity through music and lyrics.
Sessions are tailored to the needs of participants, fostering collaboration, storytelling, and emotional expression. Whether writing personal lyrics, performing spoken word, or creating original songs, participants are supported in finding their voice and sharing their experiences.
Pricing varies based on session type and group size. If cost is a barrier, please contact us to apply for financial support.
How to Access Our Services
We are delighted that you are considering making a referral to music therapy.
If you haven’t already done so, please have a look at our Music Therapy page for lots of information about how music therapy helps and what we can do for you.
As well as the information on this website we would be delighted to talk to you about our work and discuss your hopes for music therapy intervention.
Depending upon your location and the availability of our therapists, we aim to begin sessions within 1 month of receiving the referral form.
A copy of our PDF referral forms can be downloaded here: