For the past three weeks a client of mine has come into our session room and turned off the light. He'll turn it off, then turn it on. Then he'll play with the dimmer and make the light brighter...then darker. Then he'll turn the light off again. Each time he did this I would respond by turning the light on and [...]
Hey there! I hope you've had some time to poke around my website and check out the new design and new organization that will make things even easier to find (teen session ideas are all found here!) Today I'm starting a brand new video series that I'm really excited about! In this series I'll be [...]
As April is winding down, so is the school year here at University of Miami (UM), where I've been teaching this past school year. It has been an incredible year and I have learned so, so much! I'm looking forward to the coming months, where I have a few major life changes coming down the [...]
Next Saturday, May 3, Wholesome Harmonies will be part of the All Kids Included Festival, held at the South Dade Cultural Arts Center and we are so excited! This is FREE festival that provides interactive arts experiences for children of ALL abilities. The festival runs from 10am - 5pm, and I will be facilitating music [...]
Bravery - This is a theme that's reappeared quite frequently in the last year or two....in Disney movies and in songs. I think this theme is very relevant to teens and so I decided to incorporate it into my music therapy sessions last week. These are sessions for teens with autism and other special needs and [...]
Sensory-based interventions are some of my favorite to incorporate into my music therapy sessions. Many of the children I work with who have special needs are also sensory-based learners. This means they learn about their world through their senses - sight, touch, hearing, even taste! Here is an original song I wrote to use in my sensory sessions [...]
Those of you who have purchased Tuneful Teens: Creative Ideas for Engaging Adolescents in Music Therapy know that there is something cool I added to the package a few months ago. A FREE update! As I continued to work with teens with autism and other special needs I began seeing that the songs I used [...]
Two weeks ago I wrote a blog post that generated a LOT of comments! I love when this happens because it helps me feel like I'm not alone with some of the things I'm going through in my sessions. This particular blog post was about breaking free my obsession with session planning. And realizing that [...]
I'm a planner and an organizer. I'm early for everything and I always like to be prepared. So when I began working with children with Autism Spectrum Disorder and other special needs it was a HUGE shift for me to learn that coming in with a pre-planned "agenda" and session plan might not be the best [...]
I have to say that Halloween is one of my favorite holidays! Although it's usually still pretty hot and sticky here in Miami, I always enjoy singing songs about pumpkins, ghosts, and goblins. Last year I shared two videos of special Halloween singable stories: "Big Pumpkin" and "Nightsong" (these were a little different than my usual [...]
