Using music to heal.
Sitting in a church graveyard using drugs, this particular CGE client would tell herself over and over that tomorrow would be different. That thought she said, “Kept her alive.”
One day, during a session of one of our allied therapies, Music for Recovery, she said “tomorrow’s finally come.” That idea turned into this wonderfully touching song.
It was an amazing thing to have that sentence she had repeated so often in the graveyard, come true at CGE.
TOMORROW’S FINALLY COME
I was homeless. Hopeless
Living lost alone
Holes in the ceiling
of the bandos I called home
Rained on. Snowed on. Mice running around
People overdosed and dead. Never seen or found
Selling myself. Selling my soul
Cuz drugs had me under their control
I’d sit behind the church
all alone and pray
I’ll stop tomorrow
I stayed alive that way
Pregnant, prostituting never wanting to be seen
my life was in fragments strictly a dope fiend
My baby starting to grow
My belly starting to show
Marissa where did you go?
Active addiction made my life a tragic prediction
Now in recovery, I have a healthy prescription
Now tomorrow’s here
Tomorrow’s finally come
My old life is over
My new life has begun
This song planted the seed. Showing our clients that their future can be different from their past. And since then, other women in our program have written and recorded their own versions to talk about their life before and after addiction.
Song writing offers many opportunities for these women to learn recovery skills, including letting a process unfold; slowing down; being relaxed about mistakes; working as a group; and completing a project.
To hear some of the songs the women of CGE have written and recorded, click here.
At CGE, Music for Recovery is just one of several different allied therapies we offer to help our clients with their recovery. Started in 2009 by Kathy Moser, Music for Recovery provides evidence-based music programming that gives participants an opportunity to express themselves and gain experience with recovery and life skills.
Does it really help? Here’s a quote from one of our women about the program:
“My first thought was ’this is dumb’ when attending my first music class. You soon showed me how to heal with words and how practice makes better. And how growing is uncomfortable and awkward. Thank you for being a part of my journey, making me feel important and literally showing me baby steps and how important they are.”
– Client
In addition to Kathy Moser’s work with CGE, Music for Recovery has written over 800 songs with clients that have been streamed over 51,000 times. Their work was studied in 2016 by the Recovery Research Institute at Harvard Medical School and was found to increase engagement with the recovery process.
To learn more about Music for Recovery, click here.
