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 [...]
I recently participated in the Adams County Library's FunFest. Doesn't the name FunFest just sound like a good time? It really was. FunFest is a free event hosted by the library system that celebrates the kick-off of their summer reading program. Community organizations and businesses host vendor booths with activities for children and information for [...]
Last summer, I moved back to my hometown in Pennsylvania and it still feels like a dream come true! My kiddos get to play soccer on the same fields I did, attend the same school I did, and go to the same library where I used to check out Baby-Sitters Club and Goosebumps books (90s [...]
Are your clients and students as into Encanto as mine are? I don't know about you, but I constantly have "We Don't Talk About Bruno" stuck in my head! Over the past few months, I've found some creative ways to work the wonderful music from this movie into my sessions in a therapeutic way. Here [...]
