Meet your local music therapist
Sacks rediscovered the power of music when he struggled through a journey with cancer 10 years ago.
Music has the power to heal and help people express themselves.
This is the belief of local music therapist Graeme Sacks who practises from an office located on the property of the National Children’s Theatre in Parktown.
Sacks is a musician who studied jazz and has been playing for the last 30 years. He won a South African Music Award for a children’s African music album and has a degree in psychology as well as a master’s in music therapy.
Sacks rediscovered the power of music when he struggled through a journey with cancer 10 years ago.
“I spent a period of seven years in and out of hospital receiving cancer treatment. The chemo made my brain fussy but the music was a wonderful tank to float on. I did a lot of souls searching and rediscovered the power of music,” explained Sacks.
Describing himself as a privileged white male, Sacks realised that he has a responsibility to do good and use therapy to bring about social justice for the marginalised.
“We need to build a more inclusive society. So many people are shoved to the sidelines because of a disability or being different.”
Sacks does a lot of work with children at the Johannesburg Children’s Home, many of whom come from toxic backgrounds. He organises the children into groups where they express themselves through music.
“They jam together and make noise and eventually music comes out. It can look like chaos to an outsider, but they learn to work together and communicate with each other.”
For his master’s, Sacks worked with a group of autistic teenagers who formed a rock band. Sacks said that a non-speaking teen wrote the lyrics to the band’s songs while other teens came out of their shells through the interaction.
“The best thing that came out of the project was continued friendship. Most of them struggle with interpersonal relationships, but the band helped them to open up and form friendships.”
Sacks says that during therapy sessions, individuals connect through music, bringing out important issues.
“Sometimes hardly a word is spoken, but valuable things come out. We are not here to fix people, but allow them to express their way of being.”
Sacks said that music and singing competitions have placed music on an inaccessible pedestal, but music therapy teaches people that anyone can use music to express themselves, no matter their ability.
To find out more about the services offered by Sacks, visit his website at www.graemesacks.com or visit the South African National Arts Therapies Association at www.sanata.org to find out more.
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