The Essay: How Music Heals

Music is a powerful therapeutic tool. In this series Philippa Perry (pictured here with music therapist Cerrita Smith) is around Britain to meet music therapists working with their clients.

She’s in Edinburgh with just qualified MA music therapy students and where she learns how music can bring strength and a sense of purpose to hospice patients in their final days.  She listens in on sessions with troubled adolescents and with people who have suffered stroke.  This is a therapeutic skill which works without words – for vital expression and communication when words fail.

Produced by Anna Horsbrugh Porter

Broadcast: 22nd-25th September 2025