Have you ever had a time when you were going along, leading your session, and suddenly realized that things were totally out of control? Kids were screaming, people were wandering, and no one was following your instructions? Insert hand raising emoji here. I've been there. We've all had moments where it's a runaway train and [...]
Wholesome Harmonies began way back in 2006 when I started seeing one private client after working my 9-5 (well, 7:30-3) job at United Cerebral Palsy (now 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 [...]
Happy Happy New Year! I'm kicking off this year with a series of 3 "How To" posts. Today we're looking at something I hear again and again from participants who take the Tune In To Teens and Attention & Perception E-Courses: How do I plan engaging experiences for groups with mixed ages and abilities?! Read [...]
Earlier this week, I was Rockin' and Readin' at the Carroll Valley Library branch in Fairfield, Pennsylvania. The library invited me to lead a session during toddler and preschool story time, and we had a blast! Today, I'm sharing a few ways I turned a typical holiday sing-a-long into an interactive, goal-oriented session for the [...]
Thanksgiving break is here! While this is an exciting time for our students, it can also be confusing for them. Schedules and routines change, things are different. So, I wrote a song called "See You Soon" to remind my students that we may be on break and our schedules may feel strange, but we'll be [...]
Library sessions are some of my favorite to facilitate. I love the calm atmosphere and getting to know the librarians and patrons through our classes. We've been offering Rockin' and Readin', Baby & Toddler Rock and Holidays with Wholesome Harmonies for various branches of the Miami Dade Public Library System since 2010. And recently, we [...]
Today I'm wrapping up a series on successful arts therapy collaborations (something that was pretty new to me!) Check out Part 1 of the series here and Part 2 here. I'm going to continue sharing themes and experiences from the 8-week Healing Arts Program I facilitated for a high school autistic support classroom here in [...]
Last month, I started a series on successful Creative Arts Therapy Collaborations. You can check out Part 1 of the series here, where I shared ways to incorporate dance and art experiences into your music therapy sessions (for example, by pretending to surf to songs by The Beach Boys and doing chalk drawings of outer [...]
Over the past few years, as I've expanded the age groups I've worked with and the variety of settings I've worked in, I've found more and more ways to incorporate other creative arts into my music therapy sessions. I began my career working at United Community Options (UCO) Miami, where I collaborated with speech, occupational, [...]
Therapist. Client. Two well defined roles. But what happens in music therapy when you switch up those roles? When the therapist feels what it feels like to be the client, and the client feels what it feels like to be the therapist. This idea came to me a few years ago when I was working [...]
