Group music therapy is a wonderful way to develop social skills and enhance communication. It builds a sense of community and allows many opportunities for individuals to practice waiting and turn taking skills.
For children and adults with neurological and/or physical challenges, a group session will focus on communication, motor planning, expressive and receptive language, anxiety reduction, cognitive skills, social skills and self expression. An assessment that takes place throughout the first three sessions helps us tailor the goals to needs of the group. Interventions are modified to target needs of individual groups members, which allows for participants to grow and learn at their own pace.
We use rhythm and songs as a base for teaching skills such as self regulation and how to calm your body down. Moving together as a group promotes pro-social development and encourages group members to engage with one another.
Throughout our sessions we use steady rhythm, songs, and chanting to develop speech and communication as well as to enhance receptive language. Because music involves both hemispheres of the brain it allows more avenues for a message to get through and aids in learning and understanding.
In our practice we often use visuals to further support learning. We use visuals to create "social story" songs for teaching new skills or to explain a challenging concept.