Rocker’s Mission: Helping The Mentally Ill Find Their Song

Dozens of Connecticut’s most at-risk mental health patients have added a new tool to their treatment plans – songwriting – thanks to an unusual partnership between a New York-based singer and the state Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services. Over the past two years, singer-songwriter Mary McBride and her bandmates have worked with 36 young adults who receive DMHAS services, according to DMHAS Communications Director Mary Kate Mason. McBride hosts songwriting workshops with participants in DMHAS’ Young Adult Services. The songwriting process gives participants a creative outlet and a chance to be heard, she said. “It allows them to do what they do really well,” she said.