As part of its Re: Connect program, the radio station holds wellness sessions led by a certified music therapist
By: Emily Di Natale
Christophe Couttolenc (left) and Jacod De Rose (right) pictured together (Christophe Couttolenc/CanCulture)
CJRU 1280AM has introduced its newest community-based program; a series of group wellness sessions focused on music therapy. The free program is open to Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU) students as well as the rest of the Toronto community.
The radio station is affiliated with TMU and continues to be heavily influenced by community values and motivated by a desire to give back. “This radio station always has the community first in mind,” said radio host, fundraising coordinator and 4th-year TMU sociology student, Christophe Couttolenc. “Whether it be through playing local artists, giving people the opportunity to be on the radio station or by wholeheartedly supporting a project like this.”
The station’s newest program is in partnership with Miya Creative Care, an organization that partners with health-based facilities to integrate art and music therapy into their programming. The program works to help to facilitate openness and genuine interaction within the community, says Couttolenc.
The sessions centre around the importance of music in the lives of its participants. Activities range from a general conversation about music and group listening to considering the impacts of technology and social media on participants' health.
One activity in the first session, which was led by music therapist Jacob De Rose, had the participants listen to a song while intentionally scrolling on their phones.
“Even though we knew what we were doing, it was surprising to see how easy it was to get into your phone and tune out everything else,” said Couttolenc.
The second time they listened to the song, De Rose instructed them to put their phones away.
Couttolenc said the second listening was a better experience.“It was much more profound to actually listen to the music than to just go through your phone – which is what we are doing a lot of the time now.”
He added that as a result of personal experiences throughout the pandemic, he felt a need for reconnection with the community as things slowly shifted again.
“Offering [people] the ability to have a real genuine connection over something we all love, which is music, without our phones, without these distractions, is sort of how it came to be.”
Eunice Addo, a recent graduate of TMU’s arts and contemporary studies program says her experience with the session was constructive and informational in nature.
“I really liked that it was really informative. Jacob went into what music therapy is, examples of music therapy and he went through different things we could do.”
The program had its first session on Nov. 2, followed by its next session on Nov. 17. The last session before the new year took place on Dec. 7. CJRU hopes to continue the program along with other community-based initiatives, always open to students and Toronto community members alike.
“It's free and accessible, all a person needs to do is come to the space open to learning,” says Addo.