Co-Creative Songwriting for Bereavement Support

Self-expression is essential to the processing of our thoughts and feelings and is often viewed as central to successful mental health therapy. Art therapy offers a wider range of expressive mechanisms than offered through traditional approaches, allowing individuals to process their emotions when traditional therapies prove unsuccessful. Yet, effective expression through art therapy may call on a level of artistic experience that is not available to all. As such, a lack of expertise or comfort with artistic expression may hinder one’s ability to receive needed mental health support.

Creative machines can offer novel therapeutic approaches by offloading the need for creative expertise and opening up creative self-expression to those who lack the corresponding experience. In this paper, we focus on bereavement, and apply a co-creative songwriting system, ALYSIA, as a new form of therapy for those who had recently suffered the loss of a loved one. We evaluate the utility of this creative system in aiding bereaved individuals through several case studies. In addition, we discuss the utility of co-creative systems to the therapeutic context with potential application to a broad range of therapies.