Music and mental health

a meeting with "the impatients" in Montreal (Canada)

Abstract

This article aims to report and discuss an experience of participation in a meeting of a musical group, aimed at people in psychological distress, in the city of Montreal, Canada. This is a descriptive-qualitative study, experience report type, with the use of field diary records and analyzes based on the literature on the subject. It is argued that a meeting guided by music goes beyond the logic of transmitting musical knowledge or focusing on the participants' emotional content, allowing for a therapeutic, transformative, and reflexive experience. It is concluded that the expansion of spaces, as the one reported in the experience, can contribute to the strengthening of a new model of care in mental health, ensuring that those who suffer mentally are actually heard and can exercise their citizenship.