Music as an Expressive Arts Therapy: A Way to Foster Resilience Among the Youth
By Tess Aguilar, RP, CSCLP
“Music expresses that which cannot be said and on which it is impossible to be silent.”
– Victor Hugo
Last November 26, 2015, MLAC team member Dr. Christopher Carandang welcomed the invitation of the College Guidance Center of Saint Pedro Poveda College and spoke to tertiary students on the value of music as an expressive art. The event was formally welcomed by the College Dean, Dr. Salvacion Villavicencio who also formally thanked Dr. Carandang as he accomplished his talk. Peer Facilitators facilitated the event.
Dr. Carandang expressed that Music is universal as it is in every part of our lives. It captures what words cannot fully express. It gives life to feelings that are difficult to name. If joy, sadness and pain can have a voice they can be found in our favorite song, a song we dislike, words we compose, or in poems we write. As a therapeutic art, one can find much validation in his/ her music. He also shared insights from his clinical practice. The accounts were deeply moving. He shared that music can leave a genuine feeling of emancipation for juveniles who had to spend time in incarceration. Dr. Carandang finished his talk with a beautiful rendition of his own composition,”Manahimik Managinip” through which the audience was left in awe and appreciation.
As a response,the event was finally capped by songs carefully selected by a group of talented college students who sang for him. Truly, “music filled the room”.
Invitation for the talk as illustrated by Kat Guinares, Peer Facilitator from Saint Pedro Poveda College
