Giving people a voice through music

Terry Craig has turned her lifelong love of music into a way of re-connecting people with their memories or helping them to express their thoughts and feelings.

Terry is a music therapist and has worked with the Trust and its predecessor organisations for 31 years.

She recently retired, but returned to work part time. She works with patients at our Acute Adult Inpatient Service and Older People Inpatient Services in Colchester, encouraging them to use music as a way of exploring their thoughts and feelings as part of their recovery.

She also attends Age Well East’s weekly dementia café at the Orchard Baptist Church in Colchester, where she plays music and works with people who have dementia to create a digital life story to help them recall memories.

Terry uses Music Mirrors, a digital platform developed by Heather Edwards. She works with people to record their memories and music that has special significance to them.

She said: “What’s important is it’s used as a tool by the people who care for them to engage with them when they are no longer able to recall memories easily.

“It builds bridges of understanding between carers and the person with dementia.

“People have found it very helpful. Families are able to get together and spark memories about the good times. This is often a cathartic experience for the whole family at a time of uncertainty.

“And when the person dies, their legacy is there in their Music Mirror.”

VIDEO: Wendy and Allan Fairbank explain how Terry helped them create a Music Mirror to record Allan's memories and favourite music.

Music therapy wasn’t Terry's first role in the NHS.

She started working in the NHS in 1986 as a student nurse for people with learning disabilities and qualified in 1989. She then worked as a staff nurse at Turner Village Hospital in Colchester.

Music was always a passion and having achieved a degree in music before going into nursing, Terry left her job to study a Masters degree at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama.

She returned to the NHS after completing her studies and took up a music therapy post in Colchester.

Terry said: “The reason I went into this job and the reason I am still in it is I love music and find it fascinating that I can engage and connect meaningfully with other people using sounds.

“We don’t have to talk about anything if they don’t want to or are unable to.

“Using improvisation, we have musical dialogues, which is key to the therapeutic relationship.

“The unique contribution of music therapy is you don’t need to rely on people’s cognition being intact in order to communicate.

“So I can meet people where they are, which I find extremely satisfying.”

VIDEO: Terry explains how music therapy helps her patients.

Terry is a violinist and plays in orchestras, performing several concerts throughout the year. She also plays in a ceilidh band in her spare time and plays at folk festivals including Folk East, Ely, Sidmouth and Cambridge.

She enjoys learning about music of all genres and keeping up to date with new artists. Terry is aware of the importance of diversity in music and is keen to learn music from other cultures and social groups in order to connect with patients of all ages and backgrounds.

She said: “I found myself liking hip hop when my son began listening to it. He introduced me to Dave, a talented young artist with important things to say about being young and black in our society.

“I have also learnt much about music from the patients I work with, which is refreshing and enriching.

“It’s my job to be up to date with what’s going on musically.”

VIDEO: Kay and Robert Bethell and Malcolm and Hazel Laird-Johnson explain how Music Mirrors has helped them keep memories alive.