We're coming up on nine months being in pandemic/quarantine/virtual services mode and I don't know about you, but I've really had to stretch my creativity these past few months. If you're like me, you've completely revamped your clinical practice. You now need ideas that will engage your clients across a plexiglass shield. Or you need [...]
In August, my girls and I made a long trek from Miami up to Maryland. Our plan? To stay in Pennsylvania and Maryland for a few months to get away during hurricane season and avoid any kind of evacuation-during-a-pandemic situation. It has really been wonderful getting to experience Fall again. Twenty years living in South [...]
Regardless of whether your clients are doing homeschooling, distance learning, or in-person learning, we can all agree that this school year is going to look different than what we're used to. While sitting outside in the backyard watching my girls play and thinking about this, a song about this topic just came to me. [...]
One of the Tune In To Teens course features I hear the most positive feedback about is the Challenging Scenarios & Strategies for Success section, in Chapter 3. Working with teens is one of the most enjoyable things I’ve had the opportunity to do in my music therapy career, but it does come with some [...]
When it comes to looking at goals and areas of need for my teen clients, creativity and self-expression continually come to the top of my list, in terms of importance. With the upheaval that teens have experienced due to the pandemic, promoting creativity and giving them opportunities for self-expression seem more important now than ever [...]
As music therapists and educators, we know the importance of using client-preferred music in our sessions, especially when working with teens. Teens have a very personal relationship with the music that speaks to them. And when we show acceptance for our clients' music, what we're communicating is that we accept them. Using client-preferred music engages [...]
I vividly remember the first time I led a music therapy session with a group of teen clients. I remember thinking it would be easy to build group cohesion among 30 adolescents that didn't know each other, and that we'd be songwriting and rapping in no time. Well, that wasn't exactly the case. It took [...]
Earlier this week, I walked out of my virtual music therapy sessions glowing. The sessions had been great, the group of teens I worked with were totally engaged in our experiences, and it almost felt like there was no "online" barrier. I felt the same connection I feel when we're "in-person" together. It was pretty [...]
Have you been doing any virtual music therapy sessions? I've been doing virtual adapted lessons, but just had my first virtual music therapy session with a group of teens last week. I have to tell you - it was so good to see those faces on Zoom. I am really missing everyone, especially because we [...]
It's finally time: the doors for the Tune In To Teens E-Course are now open (but just for a short while)! This week only, March 9 - 13th, 2020, the course is open for enrollment (so everyone can progress through the course at the same time). Following that, the doors close and I don't really [...]
