Musical Games are some of the most used musical experiences in my repertoire when I work with teens in music therapy. SO MANY therapeutic goals can be worked into musical games: Auditory perception goals in Name That Tune, Social communication goals in Musical BINGO, and Academic goals in Musical Spacemen (Hangman), just to name a [...]
One of the key things I've learned when it comes to working with teens in music therapy is that the very first step is building rapport. If we are asking them to sing, if we are asking them to be vulnerable and to share about their lives, if we are asking them to do hard [...]
I used to start all my music therapy sessions with teens the same way I would start my sessions with kids - a Hello song. I cringe now because for many of the teen clients I worked with, I think this made them feel like a child. This was definitely not my intent. My intent [...]
When working with tweens and teens, I try to incorporate popular and client preferred music into my sessions as much as possible. This immediately helps engage them and gets them excited about the musical experience. In this post and this post, I highlight how I make my movement experiences totally age appropriate for my teen [...]
Wholesome Harmonies began way back in 2006 when I started seeing one private client after work at my full time job at United Community Options of Miami. Soon after, I received more calls and more referrals for private services from my alma mater, University of Miami (UM). Parents would call the music therapy program director [...]
The Tune In To Teens and Attention & Perception E-Courses will soon be going on hiatus for the foreseeable future. It makes me a little sad to say that. These have been passion projects for me - putting my knowledge and passion about music therapy with tweens and teens into these E-Courses, hearing your positive feedback and [...]
Whenever I survey my clients about their favorite singers, I inevitably hear names like Drake, Future, Travis Scott, and Bad Bunny. I'll be honest though, most of the time I have to Google these rappers so I can be up to speed on who they are. But since I know that rap and hip hop [...]
Today I want to write about something that has been a passion of mine for quite some time - giving individuals with autism and related disabilities the opportunity to perform and SHINE. This is top of mind because I've been rehearsing for a holiday program with the preschoolers at Amazing Kids Club, an awesome therapeutic [...]
The temperature is dropping here in Pennsylvania, Thanksgiving is behind us, and I am ready to bust out ALL the winter musical experiences in my sessions. I'm thinking creative movement, freeze dancing (of course), and creative listening to winter-themed classical music. If you're feeling inspired by the drop in temperature too, but need a little [...]
Today we are wrapping up the Music Therapy in Action series with some of my most favorite videos - our Special Performances and Events! I worked for seven years at United Community Options of Miami, facilitating music therapy for children with autism and related disabilities. During that time, my interns and I prepared many different [...]
