[Maura Pastran]

Marcie, I love how you mentioned the growth of Little John from the awareness stage to the trust stage, and how that growth developed over time with familiarity and repetition.

[Maura Pastran]

I have been observing and co-leading a Sprouting Melodies group with my intern supervisor for two semesters of SM now, and it has been really wonderful to see this one specific child- who has attended both semesters- blossom. He began in the awareness stage, displaying signs of awareness of parents, music therapist, other kids, and the music, but not leaving the safety of mom’s lap for quite a few sessions. As the environment became more familiar, he began to explore and grow and is now in the independence stage, exploring the bucket of instruments in the middle of the circle, exploring the instruments he holds, and exploring his voice! It has been wonderful getting to see his growth throughout the semesters.

[Maura Pastran]

Maureen! I love how you mention the exploration of the music and all it incorporates- instruments, relationships, emotions, etc. It is so important to open up the environment for exploration because of the benefit of allowing the children to discover and explore the music and instruments and etc., in a way they might not have otherwise. Thank you!

[Maura Pastran]

Incorporating authenticity is one of my biggest goals when working with children. If I am completely engaged and having fun in the activity, it creates a contagious energy spreading to the children and their parents/guardians. I model authentic energy by having fun with the interventions I bring to the session, and even though the interventions have more goals in mind than simply shared joy, it is essential the children experience that joy within the interventions in order to accomplish those bigger developmental based goals!

[Maura Pastran]

For me, one of the most valuable take-aways I got from this lesson was when Beth how she used to pretend to jump during movement activities, then realized she was missing out on what the children were actually experiencing. It is incredibly important for us as music therapists to know and understand what our client’s are experiencing, and one of the ways we can do that is if we submerge ourself in the experience, allowing ourselves to see what the children are seeing and feel what the children are feeling. This not only creates a more authentic session, but also allows us to have that better understanding of what the clients are experiencing.

[Maura Pastran]

Hi Marcie! I look forward to training with you 🙂

[Maura Pastran]

Hello everyone!

My name is Maura Pastran, I am the current intern at Roman Music Therapy services, and I live in Massachusetts. Over the course of my schooling and internship, I have worked/am working with early childhood populations in special education settings, weekend programs, and have been observing and co-leading Sprouting Melodies classes with my supervisors. I am looking forward to expanding my knowledge of early childhood development and then sharing that knowledge with the parents and guardians of the little ones we’ll be working with. I am also excited to help facilitate bonding experiences for the families in sessions and watch those connections grow and blossom over time.

I look forward to meeting all of you and getting to know you better over the course of this training!

Best,
Maura

[Maura Pastran]

I am currently observing sessions of Sprouting Melodies and can see the growth of the children in the session within the first couple of weeks! There is one little guy in particular, approximately 2 years old, who began the Sprouting Melodies class extremely hesitant to participate, even come in to the room, and was always in his mother’s of father’s lap. Over the course of three sessions, he began entering the room walking by himself, exploring the instruments laid out in the middle of the circle, playing along, and going up to the music therapist showing his development in trust and independence! He is not as active in the session with vocalizations, but is very active with instrument play. It’s wonderful to see his growth and development over the course of a few weeks.

[Maura Pastran]

Hello everyone!

I’m hopping on late here. My name’s Maura Pastran, and I’m a recent graduate from Berklee College of Music. I currently reside in Massachusetts and recently accepted the spot as Roman Music Therapy Service’s spring intern!Previously I have had experience early childhood through my practicum work at Maria Baldwin School in Cambridge. Following that, I have been observing and co-leading sessions at elementary and pre-schools in the Wakefield, MA, area, under the supervision of Board Certified therapists here at RMTS! I am excited to begin this training to broaden and strengthen my techniques in early childhood interventions, and I look forward to getting to know everyone along the way!

Best,
Maura Pastran

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