What’s the Theme Song for This Phase of Your Healing Journey?

By Christine Murray

As a mental health professional, I believe strongly in traditional approaches and services like professional counseling in the value they can offer to survivors along the journey of healing from past abuse. However, based on both my personal and professional experiences, I also know that it’s helpful to fill our healing toolkits with as many tools and strategies as we can find that are meaningful to us.

I think creative approaches can hold special value in the healing journeys for many survivors. In fact, through our See the Triumph campaign, we developed a guide for Healing Arts Workshops that has been a popular resource requested by many people since it was released years ago. It’s still available as a free pdf download through the See the Triumph website if you’re interested in checking it out!

Writing, expressive arts, and creative play are some examples of creative approaches that survivors could use within their healing journeys. However, this week at The Source for Survivors, we’re focusing on the potential healing power of music, and specifically the idea of having a theme song (or two, or many) that resonates with you at this phase of your healing journey.

On Thursday of this week, we’ll be sharing a special playlist we developed through The Source for Survivors with songs that *might* be meaningful for survivors. Of course, everyone has different musical preferences, so if that playlist doesn’t resonate with you, perhaps it can offer inspiration for you to create your own with songs that inspire and connect with you.

Why a Theme Song?

To me, a theme song (or a playlist of songs) for a particular phase of life means having a song that inspires you, makes you feel seen and validated, connects with your emotions and/or offers you the reminder you need now that you’re on the right path.

I’ve had many different theme songs over the years along my own personal healing journey. Different songs have had different meaning for me throughout this time. For me personally, as a person of faith, a lot of my theme songs have had deep spiritual meaning for me, but I’ve also found many relevant theme songs that aren’t directly related to my spiritual beliefs.

I’ll share an example of one of my personal theme songs, and it’s the song that I consider my theme song at this particular phase of my life and healing journey. For me, it’s kind of a random one, as I’ve never been a real Parrot Head (i.e., a Jimmy Buffet Super-fan). However, when I first heard the song, Bubbles Up, which was released shortly after Jimmy Buffet’s death earlier this year, I felt like the song was written just for me and what I’m focusing on right now.

Currently, in my life and healing journey, my main focus is on cultivating internal and external peace in all aspects of my life. This includes a focus on healthy boundaries, and I’d already had the metaphor of a bubble in mind before hearing Bubbles Up for the first time. The song’s peaceful tune resonated with my focus on peace, and its message that we can experience joy even during times of challenges and uncertainty is one that I appreciate a lot right now.

Some Tips for Finding and Using Your Theme Song

Perhaps you already have one or more theme songs for this phase of your healing journey. However, if you like the idea but don’t have one, consider whether finding one (or more) for this stage of your life would be helpful. If so, a few suggestions for finding options for your theme song include reflecting on songs that you’ve found meaningful in the past, searching online and/or in your favorite music app (e.g., YouTube, Spotify, Apple Music, or Pandora) for songs and playlists that are inspiring, and also check out our Source for Survivors playlist when we share it on Thursday of this week!

Once you pick your theme song(s), there are many possible ways you can use it to offer support and inspiration along your healing journey, including the following:

• When you really, really need to hear the message of your theme song, keep it on repeat! There’s not any rule that says you can only listen to a song once at a time. For some of my past theme songs, I would listen to them over and over and over until the message really sunk in (or I had something else to do!).
• Be intentional about setting aside a regular time (daily, weekly, monthly, whatever timeline works for you) when you’ll listen to your theme song. For example, this might be when you’re getting dressed in the morning or during your commute to or from work. It’s helpful to find some time when you can really focus your attention on the song’s lyrics, rather than having it on the background while you’re focusing on something else.
• Keep your theme song readily available for when you’re heading into a specific potentially distressing or triggering situation (e.g., a custody exchange with your abusive former partner, a court date, or a family gathering where you anticipate that uncomfortable conversations may arise). The familiarity of your theme song may offer you some comfort and reassurance as you head into that situation.
• Finally, if there is a particular lyric or section of the song that is especially meaningful for you, consider writing or typing those lyrics out and keeping them in a visible place as a reminder of the song’s message for you, even if you can’t listen to the full song at any given time.  

Conclusion

I’d love to hear your thoughts about theme songs in the comments below or through our Contact Form. Share your personal theme song or let us know how you've integrated it into different aspects of your healing journey. Your insights can inspire and offer new ideas to us all.

And don't forget to stay tuned and revisit this Pathway for Survivors blog on Thursday of this week when we’ll share the link to our new Source for Survivors Playlist! If you haven't already, consider connecting to us on Facebook or Instagram to receive updates on future posts, playlists, and resources to support you on your healing journey.