We met Clare Rosscornes, one of our music therapists, to find out more about her role at CUH for Psychological Professions Week.
Clare Rosscornes, what’s your role in our hospitals?
I am one of two music therapists based within paediatrics. I work for two days a week with inpatients aged 0-16 across all the paediatric wards here at CUH and half a day with outpatients - pre-school age children with additional needs - and their families. The outpatient work is currently taking place off site at Anglia Ruskin University's Music Therapy Centre where my colleague Dawn Loombe also works for one day a week.
What do you enjoy most about your role?
I love the joy that music can bring to children and families and how the sessions can be a positive and beneficial part of their stay in hospital.
I also really enjoy being part of a multi-disciplinary team and working collaboratively with other teams on the wards. In my outpatient work I enjoy working with children and families over a longer period of time and seeing the many benefits that this can bring.
Tell us a bit about your CUH journey.
I started working at CUH in 2008, initially just with inpatients but now I also work with outpatients. I really enjoy working for such a large organisation - even though our service is a very small cog within it - I love the way that my role fits into the bigger picture - and how I can work alongside others for the wider benefits of children and families.
What does a usual day look like?
I provide individual and group sessions on the paediatric wards - these might be one-off sessions or for the longer-term patients these would be regular weekly sessions. I might work with a child who is withdrawn or may have been in hospital for some time or it could also be a child who is on a neuro rehab journey or undergoing long term treatment. As well as individual sessions I also run a group on each ward in the play room, open to any patients who feel able to join.
With the outpatients, I see referred children and their families for a block of weekly sessions where we work on specific aims. For example, a child might be referred who has a diagnosis of Autism and may be non-verbal. In weekly sessions we can work together in developing communication and interaction through music.
How do you feel your role benefits our patients?
Music therapy is a psychological clinical intervention that helps people whose lives have been affected by injury, illness or disability. Children and young people who find themselves in hospital are often dealing with trauma or distress associated with their illness or injury.
They find that so much has been taken out of their control and Music Therapy can offer them the opportunity to take some control back and engage in a positive and enjoyable activity. This can also give a sense of wellbeing which can aid the healing process as a whole.
What advice would you give to anyone wanting to join your field?
I would wholeheartedly recommend training to become a music therapist. It is a wonderful profession that is very rewarding. Information about training can be found at https://www.bamt.org/ (opens in a new tab)