Ruth Jones

I am a HCPC registered psychotherapist specialising in Music Therapy. I provide music and talking therapy in person and online. I am the founder of Reflective Notes a Music Therapy counselling practice. 

Personal Note

We use music every day and don’t realise its impact on us. We listen to music when we are angry, sad or happy. We use it to remember our loved ones when they are no longer with us. You don’t have to be a musician to have music therapy that is my job. With my skills as a musician and now as a psychotherapist I am able to interpret and safely guide you through your use of expression. I follow the holistic approach to therapy therefore it is completely client lead nothing happens without your say so.

I have had my own struggles with mental health as many people have. I struggled for many years to find the right therapy that worked for me and often had to fight for it. However once I found the best therapy for me I was able to rewrite the stories I was told about who I was and what I was capable of. It is because of this that I wanted to become a therapist myself to help those who struggle as I did.

About The Therapy

Psychotherapy can help you discuss and express feelings you have about yourself and other people, particularly family and those close to you. It allows you to look deeper into your problems and worries, and deal with a wide range of mental health issues, such as depression, and anxiety.

Music Therapy is a therapeutic relationship established through the engagement of live musical interaction and play between therapist and client. This could be anything from improvising music, listening to music, moving to music or writing music together.

You don't have to be good at music or play an instrument that's my job! Music Therapy provides you with a different outlet than just talking. We might make playlists together of music that really resonates with you. We might reflect on music that we both share within sessions or we could write songs together. Instruments will always be available for you to try out and explore. It's not about learning how to play an instrument, you might find that you learn how to express yourself through sound just as we all try to with words. 

What can you expect at the beginning? 

I provide free phone consultations before therapy sessions begin. The consultation gives me the opportunity to understand what your current difficulties are and to take some background information. This will give me an insight to your past experiences along with your current situation which will help both of us determine what you want out of therapy. This also gives you the opportunity to talk to me before we meet in person or online and get a feeling if you would be happy to work with me on your therapeutic journey.  

Our first session will be about us getting to know each other. We may talk about why you have decided to embark on therapy, and what you want to get out of your sessions. This may be a time of just exploration or a space to offload for the first time. The choice is yours as always.

I like to leave 10 minutes at the end of every session to bring us back into the present moment, this time can be used to maybe reflect on what we have done together in the session and prepare you for coming out of the session. I find these 10 minutes can be very useful because it helps to have a summary of what we have just done and it can be quite jarring going back into the outside world after being in a therapy session. My priority is always to keep you safe. 

All first sessions include a free 20 minute phone consultation beforehand to discuss your therapeutic needs.