One question I’m asked more than any other is this: “What music should I use with my teen clients and students?”

I get it, because it stumps me sometimes, too.

First, it’s hard to find songs that are: a) appropriate (lyrics and content-wise), b) able to be used therapeutically, and c) considered cool by your clients.

Second, what’s “in” is changing constantly.

One day your clients are into the Jonas Brothers, the next week they’re all about Post Malone.

It can be hard to keep up.

I spend A LOT of time “researching” pop songs – combing through lyrics to make sure they’re appropriate, watching videos on YouTube, learning about the artists, finding the sheet music, and brainstorming ways to use the songs therapeutically.

One thing I wanted to be sure to include in the Tune In To Teens E-Course was a heavy focus on the music: resources for keeping up with the constantly changing tide of popular music AND strategies for tuning into your client’s preferred music (it may not even be pop!)

In the E-Course (which is pre-approved for 5 continuing ed credits), we cover:

The Function of Music: We take a quick look at the article “The Psychological Functions of Music Listening” to examine the multiple purposes that music serves for a teen (and I ask you to get a little nostalgic about the music from your teens years).

Musical Preferences: You’ll learn why assessing the preferences of your teen clients is absolutely critical and how to assess them in a way that’s engaging and fun.

Finding the Music: You’ll see how to quickly and easily find popular and client-preferred music. In addition, I’ll share with you the three types of music you can bring in that will keep your clients engaged, curious, and interested.

All Things Pop Music: You’ll have access to a downloadable Pop Song Hot List with over 100 songs that are popular right now. You’ll have access to bonus content (also downloadable) that shows you how to use current pop songs to address therapeutic goals. And, you’ll learn ten ways to quickly locate and learn pop songs.

Musical Experiences: You’ll see how to creatively weave popular and client-preferred music into your sessions. I share multiple examples so you can brainstorm ideas for your unique clients and students.

Knowing about the music that teens find meaningful is of the utmost importance.

The therapeutic relationship is not just between you and your client, it’s between you, your client, and the music.

If you want to learn more in this area, get support, and learn lots of creative, new ideas, I invite you to check out the Tune In To Teens E-Course.

In addition to helping you tackle the music side of things, the E-Course is full of brand new intervention ideas that target motor skills, social skills, attention, creativity & self-expression, and relaxation.

Enrollment for the E-Course is currently closed, but will be opening up in early March 2020. Yay!

Join the waitlist by entering your name and email below, so you don’t miss when the doors for enrollment are open (and close again).

When you join the waitlist, you’ll hear about special discounts and promotions, and how you can access free bonus material.

If your clients are into rap music, or you want to expose them to this genre, you’ll be happy to hear that when you join the wait list, you’ll get this freebie right away: Yo’ Guide To Rapping With Confidence. A step-by-step procedure for how to create meaningful raps with your teen clients and students.

Over the next few weeks on the blog, I’ll continue to highlight some of the special features of Tune In To Teens that make it stand out from other continuing education courses.

More than 100 music therapists, educators, and professionals have taken the E-Course and successfully put the ideas into use in their sessions and classrooms.

Madeline Feenstra, MT-BC said this about the course: “I would recommend this course to others! I feel as though this course gave me new and exciting interventions to try with several of my teen groups that I had been struggling to come up with new interventions for. Also, I personally was struggling with how mundane those sessions felt; so this course got me excited to go to those sessions and try some new interventions. I also really struggle with using raps in my sessions. I really enjoyed the examples of the raps you provided, the tips (rapping to a theme and sentence starters) on how to get clients writing their own raps. ”

If you’re interested in learning more about the E-Course, be sure to hop on the wait list now!