Heavy metal therapy is an online resource and community of people who find metal music helpful for mental well being. It is a place to find and share experiences of how metal has helped us, the meaning we take from songs or lyrics, and play lists that we have found useful. It is for everyone, so we don’t judge each others metal preferences. If you would like to share your own recovery story about how metal has helped you please contact us, we can make stories anonymous if you prefer. We continue to develop a few shared playlists under heavy metal therapy, which can be expanding and changing. We like people to share their own music or art if it comes with a reason/message to do with mental health. We may be a small and select group, but we are open to suggestions of expanding. Hopefully over time this will become led by and shaped by those who use it, so it’s not set in stone, it can grow and change. See this video for a bit more about us.
Heavy metal therapy is both a website and on social media, so find us on Facebook, YouTube, Twitter and Instagram. We are a registered Community Interest Company (more here)
Quick disclaimer: we know it’s called heavy metal therapy, but we are not claiming to be a substitute for psychological therapy, we are a self-help and peer support community. If you feel you need support from mental health services please seek it through appropriate channels (in the UK this is usually via your GP). Also, all things metal tend to be quite sweary and have dark themes, so there’s quite a bit of that in the stories and playlists.
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We follow the below principles for our page:
1. We all have struggles
2. Sharing our stories is powerful
3. We are all equal partners
4. Metal helps us process feelings
5. All ways of explaining mental health count equally
6. It’s not about money
7. We don’t chase celebrities
8. No trolling bands/genres
9. We go tats out, always
10. Always double knot in a mosh pit.
Please see this blog for more about this
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Who we are
HMT was founded by a group of metalheads with either lived experience of mental health struggles and/or expertise by training in mental health professions. There were 5 of us in the original group of ‘co-founders’, though a few others joined us after a short while. The idea for HMT came from several things including personal experiences, clinical work and most importantly a belief in the power of sharing stories of how metal music and the metal community have supported people with their mental health. Most co-founders are still actively involved in HMT (except Steve – who mainly played with a yoyo in his kitchen while we thrashed ideas out and listened to black metal, true story). We believe that HMT belongs to everyone in the community and it is run in a co-operative fashion.
Heavy Metal Therapy 