Healing Through Music

Make Music Matter (MMM) helps to heal trauma and empower marginalized voices with its innovative music therapy program Healing in Harmony (HIH).

We're currently working with Indigenous partners in Canada to help break barriers to accessing mental health support, bringing together experts in trauma-informed interventions, arts-based youth empowerment programs, and music therapy for traumatized communities.

In Alberta, MMM has partnered with Kehewin Native Dance Theatre to create a unique form of mental health support for Indigenous youth in the communities of Kehewin Cree Nation, Onion Lake, Goodfish Lake, and Cold Lake. The ‘Naskwahamâtowin – Let’s all share in the music’ project is helping to address the mental health crisis in these communities where services are very limited.

Through the Healing in Harmony project, these youth are empowered to share their stories, break through isolation, and reconnect with their cultural identity. Nikamo (‘Sing’ in Cree) is the name of the artist collective that has emerged from this project.

Listen now to their debut EP 'Moments': https://lnk.to/MMMPMoments

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In Toronto, MMM has partnered with Aboriginal Legal Services (ALS) to offer training workshops with their therapeutic and victim services team on the Healing in Harmony music therapy model.

The project is providing opportunities to expand ALS' trauma-informed and culturally-based multidisciplinary approach to supporting survivors of violence and harm. It is also addressing compassion fatigue, vicarious trauma, and intergenerational trauma amongst ALS staff and partners, who are themselves members of the Indigenous community. 

Listen now to their debut single "Where is Everyone?": https://lnk.to/Whereiseveryone-Single

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In Manitoba, MMM has partnered with Fox Lake Cree Nation (FLCN) and is seeking funds to support the implementation of a culturally inspired music therapy program for its community members. The music therapy program will be delivered over the course of one year as a specific component of the broader Fox Lake Cree Nation Wellness Strategy.

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The HIH model was initially designed for trauma survivors in conflict and post-conflict zones, in close partnership with 2018 Nobel Peace Prize winner Dr. Denis Mukwege. Research published in April 2021 has demonstrated its effectiveness in reducing anxiety, depression, and PTSD.

From survivors of sexual and gender-based violence in the Democratic Republic of Congo to young Syrian refugees with disabilities, Healing in Harmony has helped transform the lives of over 14,000 individuals in nine countries worldwide.

Participants emerge with a renewed sense of agency and self-worth. Their original songs are professionally produced and serve as advocacy tools to promote their rights and combat stigma. The music is released globally on all major streaming platforms through A4A Records, with distribution through Warner Music Canada.

The Healing in Harmony model:

1. Local and culturally appropriate psychosocial therapeutic models are used to address traumas. Song writing provides a way for participants to make the expression of their trauma concrete.
2. Songs are professionally recorded, produced, and disseminated via local radio stations, community concerts, social media, and major streaming platforms through A4A Records, with global distribution through Warner Music Canada.
3. Participants emerge as empowered artists with original songs for personal healing and advocacy tools to help combat stereotypes, stigma, and shame. Their music contributes to the restoration of a supportive healing community.
4. A groundbreaking new publishing model helps to ensure that all royalties from the songs are sent back to the artists and their communities, regardless of socio-economic circumstances.

Where we work:

Americas

• Toronto, ON, Canada | Aboriginal Legal Services
• Kehewin Cree Nation, AB, Canada | Kehewin Native Dance Theatre
• Fox Lake Cree Nation, MB, Canada
• Trujillo, Peru | World Vision Peru

Africa

• Maison Dorcas at Panzi Hospital, Bukavu, DRC
• Katana, South Kivu, DRC
• Nyangezi, South Kivu, DRC
• One-Stop Centre of Panzi Hospital, Mulamba, DRC
• Kasai, DRC | World Vision Canada
• Beni, DRC | World Vision DRC
• Uyisenga Ni Manzi, Kigali, Rwanda
• Association des Victimes Parents et Amis du 28 septembre 2009, Ratoma, Guinea | Mukwege Foundation
• Survivors’ Empowerment for Self-sustainability and Holistic Healing in Africa (SESHHA), Pietermaritzburg, South Africa | Mukwege Foundation
• Golden Women’s Vision in Uganda, Gulu, Uganda | Mukwege Foundation

Middle East

• Gaziantep, Turkey | SENED
• A’zaz, Syria | SENED

VISIT https://makemusicmatter.org to learn more

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WATCH Make Music Matter presents Healing in Harmony

READ Impact of the Healing in Harmony program on Women's Mental Health in Rural Democratic Republic of Congo 

READ Music heals: a brief background of Healing in Harmony (Humanitarian Exchange Magazine)

LISTEN to all recordings from our Healing in Harmony artists