I will be the first to admit that I obsessively love the Olympics and watch as many events as I can within the two week coverage. This year I wanted to take a quick break from our “Summer of Love” theme, and I took advantage of the summer Olympics to lead an entire session based … More Olympics!
I’ve written before about the importance of the therapeutic relationship, and for me, I would say that building relationships is one of my strengths, not to mention one of my favorite aspects of being a music therapist. As music therapists, we build relationships mainly through our music making but there are also so many other elements that … More The Therapeutic Relationship: Building and Ending
Superheroes to the rescue! As May is Imagination Month here at YCCA, I made a goal to write a new song since it had been awhile since I’d come up with an original composition. Since superheroes are always popular nowadays, why not write a song about all the special powers of superheroes? Dramatic play is an … More Superheroes!
One of my favorite parts of my day at work is leading circle time. For most of my kids, because it is the first half hour of their day at school, they are usually the most focused and eager to learn. My two year olds (now-turning-three year olds!) can actually sit still and follow directions – … More Circle Time is the Best Time
I love going to music therapy conferences. It’s basically a wonderful excuse to build community. When else do you get to get together with hundreds of other music therapists and geek out on music therapy stuff? I had the privilege of attending the Mid-Atlantic Region of the American Music Therapy Association’s annual conference earlier this … More I ♥ Conference
I had a pet dinosaur and Dino was his name-o. D-I-N-O, D-I-N-O, D-I-N-O and Dino was his name-o. Rewriting lyrics to popular songs is one of my favorite ways to come up with new interventions. In grad school, a classmate and I wrote a new version of Britney Spears’ “Hit Me Baby One More Time” for … More And DINO Was His Name-O!
Kids learn by watching and imitating the people around them. In a preschool setting, they constantly copy what their peers are doing (for better or for worse!). But most of all, they are watching the adults around them for guidance as to what they are supposed to do. Lately I have noticed how the adult presence in … More Not Just For Kids
You might have heard that we had a little bit of snow this weekend here on the East Coast. A blizzard, some might say. As a California girl, I still love getting snow even though I’ve lived on this coast for almost 15 years. We never got snow days growing up in California so the luxury … More A Welcomed Snow Day
Dramatic play is one of my favorite interventions to use in music therapy. As January is outer space month at YCCA, there are ample opportunities for blasting off into space, talking to aliens, and counting shooting stars. This is the perfect month to take advantage of young children’s imaginative capabilities. Plus making up stories and … More Going on an Adventure
2015 is going to be hard to top. One of my Drexel classmates posed a question on Facebook asking people to respond with their proudest accomplishments of 2015. What a great way to reminisce about the last year. So I began to think about it and got a bit overwhelmed – in a good … More New Year = New Goals
Next Time Won't You Sing With Me? 