Erin Williams is a music therapist who has been working with Latch for more than 4 years, delivering support to children and families undergoing treatment on Rainbow Ward. Her love of music covers everything from classical to country and western, and everything in between. We had a chance to sit down with the northern Wales born artist to speak about her work and the ways in which it benefits Latch families.
'My parents were both nurses and offered respite care in our house when I was growing up, so a lot of my childhood was helping and caring for people,' Erin said, speaking about why she became a music therapist. 'And I always had a real passion for music, I think it's what makes the world go round really. So, as I got older, I wanted to find a way to marry the two things together. My mum suggested that I should be a music therapist, and I couldn't ask for a better job really because I get to use my passion every day but also help people.'
'Music therapy is a bit like going for talking therapy, like counselling or psychotherapy, but it uses music as well as talking. It's there as a way for the children to express themselves emotionally, or sometimes just as a good distraction from pain or discomfort. We can either use music that already exists to think about and have some time to talk about their experiences; the things they like, the things they don't like, or we can make their own music as well; that could be about the things that they enjoy, who they are, who their family is, or it might be about their experience in the hospital and those uncomfortable feelings that are coming up for them. I think that's what's really great about music is that most people find that they identify with a certain type of music or it makes them feel a certain way or it makes them think of a certain time in their lives. So, we can use music to bring them back to that.
Often when you're in hospital for a long time, it can feel like you have a lack of control over your life because you can't do the things that you usually do. And for children, kind of discovering who they are it can be really hard; there isn't the outside stimulus that maybe they would have in school or with their friendship group to really think about who they are and what makes them who they are. So, I try and help them have something like that, space to think about who they are away outside of the hospital and treatment, give them an outlet to express themselves emotionally, creatively, and maybe learn something about themselves.
It can really help when I come in that I'm someone different, I'm not their parents or family members, and that they can talk with me about issues they don’t feel like they’re ready to talk with them about. I can remember this one girl, she was about 10 at the time, and she was really struggling with speaking to her parents about her treatment and her care and her wants and needs. And so, she worked with me over a long course of therapy to write a song. And in her song writing, she expressed that. It was like a conversation between her and her parents, about needing help but not knowing what she needed, and saying that she needed somebody else to talk to that wasn't her family. She loved her family and had a great relationship with them, but they had their worries as well.
So, in the song, it talked about how having somebody else to speak to was really helpful. And then she was able to show that to her family, and they were able to understand that sometimes she needs somebody else to speak to about her care, but that it doesn't mean that she doesn't still want to talk to them about things and she doesn't still love.
And sometimes, there are no words for a situation, maybe because somebody is really unwell and the family is really worried. And in those moments, I've been able to do bit of music for relaxation, the parent and the child having some time to bond, have a moment together where they can be in the music together, feel more connected to one another. It’s been really wonderful that I’ve been able to support those moments that are really quiet and small, but I think are really impactful.
I’ve been working with Latch for about 4 years now, and I still absolutely love it. I think next, I’d like to expand the program, do more sessions in the hospital and maybe provide some community support for the kids, and keep working with them once they’ve been discharged, and maybe even extend some sessions out to the siblings as well. I think it would be really great.