Welcome to Part 2 of our Therapy 101 Series! Last week, we went through the different types of therapy, approaches to practice, and acronyms you might come across when looking for a therapist. Today, we are going to talk about how to choose a therapist that fits your needs and personality.

Hello and happy Holi! We are wishing you a very happy and colorful day of celebration in honor of the Hindu Festival of Colors.

What is music therapy? Music therapy uses music to engage people in self-exploration, growth, and development of meaningful skills in their daily life. Music therapists support people across the life span in emotional, interpersonal, communicative, cognitive, and physical domains.

Lunar New Year started on Tuesday February 1st to celebrate the first new moon of the year. Asian people all across the globe celebrate it every year with parades, fireworks, spending time with loved ones, paying respect to their ancestors, and decorating with bright reds. This year is the Year of the Tiger, indicating courage, and strength. Celebrations can last up to 15 days and vary from country to country.

If you are still looking for ways to teach your families about Lunar New Year through art, music, and storytelling, I would love to share activities by some my favorite Asian creators and platforms.

As a music therapy intern, I am learning something new nearly every minute of every day. So much is being revealed to me as I explore the wide scope of music therapy practice and the various healing spaces we create and step into. Each music therapist carries nuanced perspectives and philosophies, and there is truly no “one size fits all” approach to our work.

What is a Mood Regulation Playlist?

It is a therapeutic application of music to help reduce the length and intensity of emotions like anger, anxiety, sadness, fear, and overwhelm by curating your music to accompany the experience of an intense emotion.

October marks the time of year when the days start getting noticeably shorter and the weather is beginning to cool, signaling us to put on our sweaters, cook a warm meal, and cozy up by the fire… right? But for many of us, October also marks the beginning of the holiday season and the ramping up of school and other commitments. Contradicting the pull to go inwards is the expectation to go shopping, socialize and engage in fall activities, all while keeping up with work, school, family, and life!

Hey y’all, it’s Emme. As we hit the dog days of summer and approach back to school, back to work, and other seasonal transitions, I want to invite you to check in with yourself.

When people think of therapy, we often picture sitting on a couch and talking to someone, maybe with a tissue in hand. Talk psychotherapy is one effective form of support, but there are others as well. Creative arts therapies not only support social and emotional wellbeing, but they also support physical, cognitive, communicative domains…

Music Therapists have the skill and training to address a really wide variety of therapeutic goals. These could include areas such as communication, social-emotional health, or sensory development. Today, I’m sharing how music therapists address fine and gross motor skills and how that might benefit you or your child.

Have you ever had the experience of being somewhere, or driving in your car, and that one song comes on and suddenly you are bawling, connecting to every word and every note in that song? Music is powerful, and we relate to it in so many ways. There are pieces that make us feel alive and energized, music that helps us work out, music that connects us spiritually, music that makes us feel all the feels, music that helps us meditate or be more fully present.

As therapy and mental health services become more accessible and less stigmatized (we still have a long way to go!), more people are searching for therapists who will help them navigate the challenges and changes of their lives. But the process of finding a therapist can be daunting, intimidating, and frustrating as databases are incomplete, profiles speak in professional jargon, and intakes can be impossible to schedule. It can feel powerless, asking for someone in an ivory tower to help.

We need to flip this script. You finding a therapist is about You. Instead of, ‘will this person have availability and accept me as a new client,’ let’s change it to ‘does this therapist fit MY needs, will this therapist have a perspective that understands and validates me?’

First of all, thank you so very much for taking the time to share your thoughts, concerns and ideas with us regarding reopening. We have been thinking long and hard about when to reopen and how to do it effectively. Your responses genuinely helped us come to a decision.

We are outraged and heartbroken over the murder of George Floyd and the hundreds of other innocent black men and women killed by police. We are appalled by the ongoing and unchecked racism and systematic oppression that is visible everywhere in our nation.

What does your body feel right now? Are you sitting, standing, moving? What texture surrounds you? What does the air feel like, what does your breath feel like, what does your heartbeat feel like?

If you’ve tuned into any of our live videos in the past several weeks, you’ll notice that at The Sonatina Center, we LOVE singable story books. We love them for many reasons, for the concepts they teach, the imagery, and the beautiful songs that accompany them to name a few!

I mean, how could I know that the next thing on my presentation timeline was going to be a giant black hole called COVID-19 that would suck all of those plans and ideas in and leave us scratching our heads on where to go and what to do next.

COVID-19 has changed the way we all do things, and at The Sonatina Center, that means we’re doing virtually everything virtually! We’re doing music enrichment via Google Hangouts Meet, Facebook Live, and the entire team is doing remote teletherapy from our homes. That means our homes are now partially music therapy studios, which can take some finagling!

As we are responding to the disruptions caused by COVID-19, I’m reminded of our unique ability as humans to adapt to change. While it feels as though we’ve lost a lot right now, what we’ve gained is a renewed sense of collective action, a reminder that we are all in this together, and an appreciation for the bonds that keep us connected.