Every other Sunday, I drive up a palm tree-lined road to the Chabad Center of Kendall to facilitate sessions for Friendship Circle Miami. I've worked with Friendship Circle since 2010 and it's one of my favorite programs to work with. This past week something very interesting happened in one of the sessions. I had just [...]
I have a confession to make... Ready for it? I used to be kind of a snob when it came to using recorded music in my sessions. As a board certified music therapist, I am a firm believer that we have a unique skill set that sets us apart from other music professionals. We play [...]
I'm ashamed to admit this, but... I used to be a huge Backstreet Boys fan. I mean HUGE. One of those embarrassing fans. I knew all of the guys' birthdays, their favorite foods, and the kind of car they drove. My best friend and I spent hours making collages of their faces on our binders [...]
"Raise your hand if you're an American Idol fan!" Anyone? I said this at a recent session with a group of middle schoolers and they just stared back at me. I think I heard actual crickets. Apparently AI is't cool anymore?! Even if it's not still cool, I'm still watching. Want to know why? A [...]
One of my main goals here at Wholesome Harmonies is to connect with and support other like-minded professionals. In particular, music therapists, music teachers and special ed teachers who work with tween and teen clients. The #1 thing I hear from y'all when you reach out to me (which I LOVE!) is that you enjoy the [...]
I've been working with teens since 2005 (yikes! It's true!) Over the years, I've found it harder and harder to locate "appropriate" songs to use with my teens clients. I know what qualifies as an "appropriate song" can vary from person to person. What I'm referring to are songs that are free of inappropriate language [...]
I don’t know about you, but I was pretty excited to hear that American Idol was coming back on the airwaves in 2018. (Don't be ashamed if you were too!) I’ve watched on and off throughout the years since it began in 2001 and have always loved the show. I’ve tried watching the other vocal [...]
One of the most classic music therapy interventions is Musical Jeopardy. It's familiar, inviting, engaging and fun. Perfect for a practicum student, intern or seasoned clinician to facilitate. Every year I come up with a new version of this game and use it as I'm getting to know my new groups and clients, and assess [...]
I've been watching the weather and I see that in other parts of the country it's snowing and there were sub-zero temperatures last night! It's hard to believe that winter is going on in other parts of the country and world, because here in Miami it's 75 and sunny. (To be fair, we endure a [...]
If you follow my blog (and E-Book series), you know I love a good musical game. As soon as I mention we're playing a "game" at the start of a session, I immediately have my clients hooked and excited. Musical games are great in that you can sneak in work on lots of different goal [...]
