[Jillian Brown]

I will continue the current work I’m doing now but with more confidence and understanding. Thanks so much for a wonderful training!

[Jillian Brown]

I’m especially looking forward to sharing this information with the people I work with. We have a team of nurses, doctors, CNA’s, massage therapists, chaplains and social workers that I am anxious to meet with and maybe give an in-service on what I’ve learned because I really think a lot of what I’ve learned is worth sharing with them and feel that they could benefit and utilize some of the information too in their work with the children and their families. I loved the piece about reaching out into the community and appreciate all the tips and suggestions for branching out and advocating for music therapy. What a great idea to be as much a part of the community as possible. I think that will not only help with business but will help music therapy earn respect and recognition that it deserves.

[Jillian Brown]

I feel that this training has provided me with a lot of knowledge about early childhood and music therapy that I really wasn’t familiar with before I took the training. I’m excited to continue to apply what I’ve learned from this training in the work I am doing in pediatric palliative care. I will be doing some upcoming music therapy groups with young children with life limiting illnesses and their siblings and I’m so thankful to have gained some knowledge and skills to use.

[Jillian Brown]

fun, diverse, playful, challenging, educational

[Jillian Brown]

togetherness, structure, flexibility, challenges, variety

[Jillian Brown]

The challenges I’ve personally experienced revolve around children being at different developmental levels, having different needs whether it be emotionally, physically or mentally, and being able to engage everybody. I am thinking of a case in particular that I have where there are 4 children under the age of 5 years old. There is a 5 year old, a 1 1/2 year old and two twin sisters the age of 2 1/2 and one of the twins has severe cerebral palsy. In the work I’m doing now I have individual goals for the child with the CP but then I’m also working with the family so my visits are broken up into one family visit per month and two 1:1 visits with the child (I’d love to see her weekly but we don’t have the funding but are hoping to get more money soon!). The challenges I’ve faced during the family group experience is that the oldest child really wants to be imaginative and creative while the 2 1/2 year old normally functioning child is more shy, reserved and acts out. The 1 1/2 year old is experimenting with my whole bag of instruments and the 2 1/2 year old with CP is on the ground taking everything in. It has been so hard for me to feel like I’m engaging everybody and paying equal attention to all the children while still working on goals for the child with CP. I think after viewing the family sprouts video I’ve been given some insight about how to use songs and activities that will engage the older kids but still be good for the younger ones. I have to say though, working with a family of children of all different ages is not my favorite thing to do!

[Jillian Brown]

playful, calm, engaging, connection, free

[Jillian Brown]

Everyone else has hit the nail on the head. I think this varies child to child and situation to situation. We are trained to be able to be very sensitive to our clients and to learn what they need through assessment and some degree of trial and error. I think just by being fully present and watching how children are responding is the key to knowing how much is too much or how little is too little.

[Jillian Brown]

1. Your child is taking in a lot of information just by watching us and the other children. If they are not actively participating at this point it is okay! A lot of learning is being done just by watching right now.

2. It may seem like we’re repeating the melody a lot but children at this age need repetition. It helps them learn and become comfortable with the music.

3. Even if it seems like your child is not giving his/her full attention to the group or to the music it is okay. It is a good thing for your child to be able to explore, take things in and make choices at this age.

4. I encourage you to use this music outside of the classes. Using the songs outside of class encourages the continuation of learning in addition to helping you and your child get to know the music.

5. Your child is not too young to play a musical instrument. He/she may not be able to play along to the beat at this age but he/she is still doing a lot of learning by engaging in instrument play and watching others.

[Jillian Brown]

I use ocean drums, maracas, the ukulele, djembe drums and wrist bells. I bought a lot of the items off Amazon and some are remo brand and some are brands that I can’t remember. I also have a floor piano but I’m working on how I want to utilize it in a way that can be therapeutic as opposed to the kids just running all over it.

[Jillian Brown]

The families I work with in pediatric palliative care have a number of needs focusing on psychosocial and emotional. Families are struggling with all the components of having a child with a life threatening illness: financial, emotional, physical, psychological, spiritual. Sometimes there are intense family dynamics and lots of feelings of loss, anger, resentment, anxiety, depression, and deep emotional burden. I work with a clinical team addressing the over all need of the child with the life threatening illness and also her family members and what the need is as a family unit. Sometimes my work is more focused on just the child with the illness but more often than not I am doing sibling work, and work with the whole family. I think the families I work with are unique in that they have gone through a lot and are incredibly strong. The parents really seem to advocate intensely for their children and families and want the very best. They seem so grateful for any help they get even if it seems small. I feel very privileged to work with these families and it has been very challenging but rewarding. I hope I become better at what I do and I’m hoping this training helps me have a better understanding of children and developmental and well-being needs.

[Jillian Brown]

Music therapists have the benefit of years of schooling, practicum and internship experience which has trained us to understand the functionality of music and its effect on people emotionally, physically, cognitively, and developmentally (to name a few). We understand how to use music in a way that will benefit the overall well-being and development of children taking into consideration their uniqueness and individuality. We know how to cater musical experiences to each individual child and parent to facilitate the best experience we possibly can and most importantly we care so much about creating musical experiences that will best benefit children and families.

[Jillian Brown]

Singing: I’ll try to get children to sing along to familiar songs if able, fill in the blank, or vocalizing. With some clients I’ll use fill in the blank with vocalizing and give plenty of space to fill in.

Playing instruments: I like to use action song a lot with musical instruments, music improvisation, free music making, and call and response

Moving: I’ll admit that this is one I don’t do as much of because I had a lack of ideas for it besides some action songs. I’d like to use this more

Listening: this is another one I don’t use as much except when a client is in a tough space and I’m trying to use music to help them relax or engage them. I should try using it purposefully for just the sake of listening.

[Jillian Brown]

1. Singing: 

Awareness- uses pitch in vocalizations, may match pitches

Trust- matches selected pitches about 1/2 of the time

Independence- babbles with melodic inflection

Control- follows melodic contour of familiar song

Responsibility- uses pulse and meter within melodic contour

*important to let parents know that their child is matching pitches and to recognize it.

2. Playing Instruments:

Awareness- responds differently to sedative vs. play song music

Trust- briefly uses pulse and meter

Independence- explores a variety of instruments purposefully

Control- starts and stops instrument play with the music

Responsibility- maintains a steady beat

*important to watch children and what they are doing with musical instruments

3. Moving:

Awareness- rhythmic movements are instinctual

Trust- responds to music with repetitive movements

Independence- isolates body parts to move rhythmically

Control- imitates learned musical movements

Responsibility- uses musical movements in sequence

*even when children move their hands when they see others clapping is a good response. Clapping may be more difficult to do than other actions as it requires meeting at mid-line and crossing.

4. Listening:

Awareness-  recognizes changes in vocal timbre

Trust- recognizes familiar melodies

Independence- begins to match intensity of movements to intensity of music

Control- stops action to listen to music

Responsibility- listens to the music of others

*study of mirror neurons suggests that when a child is observing another person performing a particular action, even though that child is not themselves performing the action, neurons are fired that may be the same as the neurons fired in the person actually performing the action. Children learn a lot from watching and listening.

[Jillian Brown]

In my home community people listen to all kinds of music. There is a big local musician culture where I am from which is just south of Boston. In my late teens and early twenties I participated in a lot of local music events such as open mic nights and festivals. I went to many different open mic nights. Some focused on singer/songwriter/folk music, some were more geared toward cover songs anywhere from the 1950’s to present, some were blues jams, and some were bluegrass/country. I enjoyed participating in the many different ones as it helped me to relate and understand other people’s enjoyment of the music and culture even if I didn’t necessarily listen to a particular type of music regularly. There’s also a big Irish culture near where I lived and lots of Irish pubs.

[Author]

Posts