Song-making in a group (SING): a longitudinal study for people experiencing psychosis

Abstract

Background: Creative expression transforms imaginative landscapes into tangible realities. Music-making in particular sets perceptions into motion that both creator and appreciator can experience. This innovative act establishes one’s identity within the community, and engaging in the creative process with others further emphasizes one’s voice within the collective. Group-based music-making’s ability to foster agency and belonging might be especially advantageous for those experiencing isolation and alienation. This investigation examines song-making in a group’s impact on people experiencing psychosis. Methods: Twenty participants with psychosis engaged in four sessions during which they wrote and recorded songs with four other participants and a music facilitator. This study builds on music therapy research in psychosis by incorporating symptom specific measures and adding linguistic analyses as objective measures of mental states. Symptom changes were assessed by administering paranoia and hallucination questionnaires before and after the music intervention. Fluctuations in the language participants use to describe experiences were quantitatively captured using Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count 2022. Results: Although a decrease in hallucinations was not observed, paranoia decreased in participants who experience less severe hallucinations as compared to those who experienced them more frequently. Linguistic findings revealed a significant reduction in the usage of the first-person pronoun “I” and significant increases in the plural pronoun “we,” accomplishment, agentic, cognitive processing, and positive emotion language. Discussion: Suggestions regarding how these language shifts reflect the song-making activity and translate into participants’ lives outside of the song-writing workshop are discussed. Overall, this study highlights the potential of group-based song-making in promoting recovery from psychosis.