“Trying to Sing through the Tears.” Choral Music and Childhood Trauma: Results of a Pilot Study

Recent advances in trauma treatment research suggest that a paradigm shift is underway towards
engaging trauma survivors in interventions that include the body, creativity, and activities that allow for social synchronization with others. This new wave of trauma treatments represents a shift away from a primary focus on talk-based interventions arguing that body-based, creative, and socially targeted interventions will have increased and more integrative benefits for those healing from trauma (van der Kolk, 2015). It was our goal to provide a choral music experience to better understand the potential impacts of choral singing for adult survivors of childhood trauma. We recruited 18 adult survivors of childhood trauma and ran weekly rehearsals over the course of a winter term. We measured the emotional experience of singing on the Singer’s Emotional Experience Scale (Beck, et al., 2000) and found significant improvement in overall mean responses over the course of the rehearsals. Seven primary themes were identified through the thematic analysis. These included: feelings about “structure”, feelings about repertoire, dealing with triggers, choir as a safe and healing space, getting connected to music (again), getting connected to others, and therapy without therapy. Implications for those working with trauma survivors and choral directors are offered.