Finding Rhythms: Using Music to Break the Cycle of Repeated Contact With Acute Mental Health Services for Black Men

ABSTRACT Objectives Black men frequently face restrictive practice during their contact with mental health services, compounded by harmful narratives about them in society and services. This work details collaborative music‐making projects for Black men experiencing repeated contact with mental health services, who services had struggled to support. Methods Three music‐creation projects were co‐delivered by professional musicians and psychologists, with quantitative and qualitative feedback gathered and analysed. Results Across three projects, 27 men created three albums of original music which were shared with their communities: family, friends and health care teams. Participants reported improvements in their mental well‐being, experiences of themselves, and experiences of the group. Qualitative analysis identified that the projects allowed them to Express Emotions , have Alternative Experiences of Relationships , and Build Confidence . Inpatient admissions also decreased by 60% in the year that the projects were undertaken. Conclusions The impact of the projects is considered through a lens of Narrative Therapy; through providing safe opportunities for self‐storying, thickening preferred individual and collective narratives, and the use of definitional ceremonies to allow witnessing of preferred narratives. Black men are often offered support that does not understand their needs or prior experiences with services. This work has demonstrated that young men want to engage in therapeutic safe spaces where they can form preferred narratives for themselves. Future work must be cognisant of the impact of such narratives and involve concerted efforts to repair harm inflicted upon Black men in our services.