In last week's blog post, I shared about a musical experience I facilitated where clients were prompted to create and perform their own rap. I also let you in on a little secret. I created and performed my own rap along with the clients and was so nervous that it caught me completely off guard! My [...]
If you've been following the WH blog for the past few years you know that I love to incorporate rapping into my sessions with tween and teen clients. I use rapping to help clients explore their emotions, increase communication skills, and facilitate self-expression. It can be as simple as giving a prompt or sentence starter, providing a [...]
Rhythm sticks are quickly becoming my favorite instrument. Why? They're incredibly versatile (just like this instrument is!), They're appropriate for a wide range of ages, They can be used to address goals in a variety of domains, And, they're multi sensory. The multisensory component is my favorite part because the majority of the individuals I [...]
Don't you just love "Can't Stop the Feeling?" by Justin Timberlake. It is so darn catchy and instantly puts me in a good mood when I hear it. I used the song in my sessions yesterday and it was a huge hit. The clients (children in grades K-5) loved it AND it was incredibly effective in helping [...]
Some of my favorite services to offer are developmental music classes for babies and their caregivers. I just love the developmental stage when babies are reaching milestones in different areas. (My little one is 5 1/2 months so we are knee deep in this stage!) Wholesome Harmonies provides developmental music classes for babies at the Brockway Memorial Library and at [...]
I've been working at Children's Resources Educational Center since August of last year and am loving my time there. I have the opportunity to work with a wonderful group of students. One of my favorite classes at Children's Resources is for children with severe/profound intellectual disability and physical disabilities. Many of the students in the class [...]
Session planning is one of my favorite things about being a music therapist. I love the process. We start out with a client need and corresponding goal. Then we use our creativity to see how we can address that goal musically. I love everything that goes into that process - writing original songs for my younger clients, [...]
Spring is in the air! Well, here in Miami, I guess it always feels like Spring. But there's something so refreshing about the days staying lighter longer. With the coming of Spring, I want to share with you about the new Spring schedule that's out for our Baby & Toddler Rock programs. These sessions are presented in [...]
Wednesday is one of my favorite days of the week. I love it so much because I have a mix of sessions today. I get to teach an adapted piano lesson where the student is learning "What Makes You Beautiful" by One Direction and "Do You Love Me?" by the Contours. Then, after a music therapy session, [...]
When I first started Wholesome Harmonies, I envisioned my business solely providing music therapy services. (In fact, my business name used to be Wholesome Harmonies Music Therapy). As the years have gone by, though, I've received more and more requests from parents looking for someone to teach music lessons to their child with special needs. But they [...]
