I don't know about you but I was a little bit relieved when Moana came out and we could finally put the music for Frozen away! There's only so many times you can sing "Let it Go" in a lesson or session, am I right? Because Moana is so popular, I did some brainstorming to [...]
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, [...]
One of my main goals with Wholesome Harmonies is to provide resources to support and empower music therapists. In particular, MTs who feel stuck when it comes to planning for their sessions with teen clients or who feel like they want to "take it up a notch" from what they're already providing. With that goal [...]
Halloween is right around the corner and there is a hint of Fall in the air (yipee!). Here in Miami that just means the humidity has dropped slightly, but I'll take it! Come on over and grab some free Halloween intervention ideas here and then check out this new idea I came up with: It's called the [...]
In addition to offering music therapy services, another thing I love to do is offer adapted music lessons to children and teens with ASD. I've been teaching piano lessons to a teen and recently was starting to feel stuck with the lesson book. Plugging through it week after week was becoming a bit dry. Have you [...]
What pop songs are you digging right now? Currently I'm loving "Can't Stop the Feeling" by Justin Timberlake and "Try Everything" by Shakira. Anyone else? Sometimes it can be really hard to find songs that we can bring into our music therapy sessions. In my case, they need to fit the following criteria: Have "appropriate" lyrics & [...]
'The lazy days of summer are here." Whoever came up with that saying has not met a music therapist in private practice! Although we may tend to have a lighter caseload when clients are out of town, it seems there is never a shortage of things to do. One thing I'm doing this summer is [...]
Friendship Circle is one of my favorite programs to work with. It is an incredible organization that provides services for children and teens with autism, as well as the opportunity for them to make friends and work on social skills in a supportive environment. I work with Friendship Circle by providing group music therapy services for [...]
I'm gonna cut to the chase. Session planning for my teen groups used to stress me out big time. I stressed out because I was missing a big piece of the puzzle. I was planning a session around what I thought was cool and what I thought the teens wanted to do. Because of this, I [...]
It's not always easy to find songs that are: a) considered "cool" by the teens I work and b) able to be used therapeutically. I know because this year I've spent countless hours listening to songs and watching videos on YouTube. Sometimes it's slim pickings. But, a few weeks ago I came back to a song [...]
