Music Therapy for Children and Teenagers

Sessions are 15-30 minutes long and are very, very playful!  They are designed to see how a child responds and to encourage curiosity, less targeted work than with older children.

• Starting with a hello song, the child is encouraged to play during their turn in the song.
• Afterwards, a moment to see how the child is that day - are they tired, or excited?
• A familiar song to match their mood, like 'Twinkle, twinkle little star' for sleepiness, or 'Wheels on the bus' for excitement.
• Extend the song into turn-taking and tailor it to the individual, beginning to sing about the music-making instead of the familiar song.
• Turn-taking exercises and sharing time.  Let's both play on the drum together! or Let's both sit at the piano!
• Gently encouraged tidying up in order to ease us into the goodbye.
• Goodbye song, encouraged to be sitting and still for it before leaving.

Sessions are 30 minutes, or 50 minutes in a group.  Group work with primary aged children is incredibly beneficial and I believe one of the most effective methods of music therapy!  The work is targeted following an assessment, working towards specific aims and strategies for the individual.  

• Music therapy groups are encouraged to start together.  You might all walk to the room as a group, rather than having children brought to you.
• Begin with a long hello song where each child has a turn to play an instrument and the others are encouraged to listen to what they are doing. 
• Lots of high-energy music-making, usually made up on the spot! 
• Begin to offer choices, letting each child have a turn throughout the session.  
• They might pick a game, a song, or an activity for everybody to do.
• Move back into made-up music-making in order to support excitement being channelled in a healthy way.
• Alternating in this way before moving to a tidy-up where each child is encouraged to help.
• Sit in a circle and ask how everybody is, sharing a drum whilst we do it.
• Sing goodbye to everybody, encouraging the group to all wave at one another.
• Walk back to classes altogether as a group.

Sessions are 30-50 minutes and tend to be individual or in pairs.  Teenagers can find music therapy embarrassing sometimes, and need lots of preparation and planning so that they know what to expect.

• Begin with a conversation about how things are, how they've been since last time, and what they'd like to do today.
• See what comes up!  Sometimes teenagers have a lot to say about an event in the week.  
• Encourage movement to instruments or to song-writing - could we sing about what's happened and how it made you feel?
• Listen to familiar songs and play along to it.  Choosing songs which have words that resonate with them.
• Now we know what's going on, what could we do about it?
• Encouraging self-awareness and self-understanding - why are you feeling this way about it?  Teenagers are often much more insightful than they get credit for!
• Think about takeaways from the session and offer a chance to make some more music.
• Say goodbye and be clear about when the next session will be.