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 Pennsylvania.

As I mentioned in my last post, I had the opportunity to collaborate and co-treat with painters, fiber artists, yoga instructors, theatre instructors, and creative writers.

Prior to session planning, I met with the autistic support teacher, and she gave me several themes and concepts that she and her students were working on in the classroom.

From that list, I came up with a theme for each week’s hour and a half long session and collaborated with the instructor for that week to come up with our arts experiences.

Here are the themes and arts experiences we came up with for the second half of the program:

Week 5 & 7 – Becoming Adults
Theme – Adult living and taking on adult responsibilities
Guest Arts Instructor – Creative Writing & Theatre Instructor
Arts Experiences:

• Theatre Exercises/Icebreakers
• Accordion Poetry – We split the students into three groups and each chose a theme word that resonated with their concerns over the transition from high school into adult living. Group 1 wrote the first line of poetry on a paper folded like an accordion. They passed the paper to Group 2, who wrote the next line based on the line from Group 1. They then passed the paper to Group 3, who wrote a line based solely on the line prior, written by Group 2. The paper continued around the group until we had a whole page of poetry. I then took each of the poems and turned it into a song written in a genre that was a favorite of the students (country, blues, and hip hop).
• Lyric Analysis and Song Discussion/Comparison of two songs that have different approaches to getting older and moving into a new phase of life: “Stressed Out” by Twenty One Pilots and “Unwritten” by Natasha Bedingfield.

Week 6 – Relaxation
Theme – Relaxation
Guest Arts Instructor – Yoga Teacher
Arts Experiences:

• Drumming Group Round & Check In
• Yoga with theme of moving into adulthood
• Progressive Muscle Relaxation & Guided Imagery

Week 8 – Empowerment/Self-Esteem
Theme – Empowerment, Self-Esteem
Guest Arts Instructor – Musician & Music Educator
Arts Experiences:

• Cups Rhythm Game to Blues Brothers Songs
• “What I Am” by Will.I.Am – We sang the song and students thought of a positive word to describe themselves. Students then cut out words, letters and pictures from magazines and created artwork around that word.

And that sums up our 8-week Healing Arts Program! It was an incredible opportunity to stretch my creativity muscles.

I’m now two weeks into the Fall program at the same high school and I’m sure I’ll be back on the blog to share more ideas from this program soon.

If these posts were inspiring and you’re looking for more ways to infuse CREATIVITY into your sessions, I would encourage you to sign up for a 6-month subscription of Elevate.

You’ll receive monthly musical experience ideas sent straight to your inbox each month, have access to instructor support for any questions, AND complete Creativity Worksheets to double or triple the number of ideas you walk away with and earn 7 CMTE credits.

Choose from the Teen Package, the Attention & Perception Package, or grab the Combo Pack!

The post Successful Creative Arts Therapy Collaborations – Part 3 appeared first on Wholesome Harmonies, LLC.

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, and physical therapists.

This provided me with a fantastic foundation and helped me clearly see how I could use a musical experience to work on a non-musical goal – like increasing expressive language or improving fine motor skills.

But, I never had the opportunity to collaborate with other creative arts therapies until I began my private practice.

Today I’m starting a three part series on the Creative Arts.

In Part 1, I’ll start by sharing how I incorporate creative arts experiences, like dance and art, into my music therapy sessions.

I got the idea to share these creative arts ideas while pretending to surf with a group of young adults with disabilities as we listened to “Surfin’ Safari” by the Beach Boys (not a bad way to spend a morning!)

In Part 2 and 3, I’ll share how I’ve been collaborating and co-treating with artists of all disciplines in a new program for high school students with autism called Healing Arts.

Let’s get started! Here are some other ways I incorporate dance and movement into my music therapy sessions:

In the post, Summer Session Ideas for Middle Schoolers & Teens, I share two ideas for adding movement into a Hawaiian/Beach-themed session. The first is body percussion to the song “Summer Vibes” by Walk Off The Earth (this song is guaranteed to put you in the mood to go the beach!) and the second is hula dancing to traditional Hawaiian music.

Fourth of July – In our sessions based on this holiday theme, we march to all kinds of patriotic songs. Everything from your traditional instrumental versions of the songs to a metal version of “Yankee Doodle” that I found on YouTube (check it out for yourself!)

In the post, Thanksgiving Music Therapy Ideas for Middle & High Schoolers, I write about how we dance to “Cotton Eyed Joe” (you know, the one from the 90s) and “Hoedown Throwdown” by Miley Cyrus to incorporate some country line dancing into our bluegrass/harvest-themed session.

Creative Interpretations – For this musical experience, I pull up a variety of orchestral pieces and invite clients to simply move the way the music sounds, or move the way the music makes their body want to move. All interpretations welcome. I pick a variety of pieces that sound different, like “Waltz of the Flowers,” “Flight of the Bumblebee,” “Nutcracker March,” “Can Can,” “William Tell Overture” and “Swan” from Carnival of the Animals.

Here are some ways I’ve incorporated arts experiences into my music therapy sessions:

In the post, Combining Music & Art: A Hawaiian Theme for Elementary Students, I write about how I play traditional Hawaiian music while showing rotating pictures of Hawaii on a big screen. Students are invited to draw a picture of Hawaii, or what they think is being depicted in the music.

Planet/Outer Space Art – In a session based on this theme, students listen to “The Planets Suite” by Gustav Holst and are invited to draw planet/outer space artwork. We use dark blue or black paper and chalk to create the feeling of being deep in outer space.

In the post, Amp Up Your Teen Sessions: Best Day of My Life, I write about a musical experience where I sing “Best Day of My Life” by the American Authors with my teen clients and then invite them to draw a picture of the best day of their life. If they feel comfortable, they can share their artwork and about their day with the rest of the group.

What I Am – This is one of my favorites because it’s great for empowerment and self-esteem. Clients sing the song “What I Am” by Will.I.Am along with me. They’re then invited to think of at least one positive quality about themselves and create artwork around the word. They can write the word on their paper and decorate around it with colored pencils or pastels, they can cut out letters and pictures from a magazine, or they can use other artistic mediums to create artwork around the positive word that describes them.

Each of these musical experiences gives the opportunity for students to be introduced to a wide variety of music while also having the chance to express themselves artistically.

There are so many more ideas I want to share here, but I don’t want to overwhelm you!

If you haven’t done so already, I’d encourage you to see how you can incorporate dance or arts experiences into your music therapy sessions, regardless of the age or population with whom you work.

Next time on the blog, I’ll be sharing about the Healing Arts Program I facilitated for a high school autistic support classroom here in Pennsylvania.

I had the opportunity to collaborate with painters, fiber artists, yoga instructors, theatre instructors, and creative writers.

This was an amazing program that STRETCHED me creatively! I’ll be sharing many of our successful arts experiences here on the blog, so be sure to stay tuned for it.

The post Successful Creative Arts Therapy Collaborations – Part 1 appeared first on Wholesome Harmonies, LLC.