Art Therapy helps kids cope with grief

based on this article by DAVID SORTINO

One of the many problems counselors and psychologists face is the different emotional and cognitive developmental levels of children they counsel. Children have different ways of expressing themselves, particularly in how they deal with grief and death: some are more verbal and feel comfortable speaking to adults about grief, while others are non-verbal and will internalize it. 

The key factor is the approach the counselor uses to address the children's pain or grief. Most experienced counselors understand these differences and use different modes of therapy to reach individuals, especially young children dealing with death. Fortunately, many grief counselors use the expressive arts, such as art therapy, as their main strategy for helping children deal with often-unspeakable thoughts and emotions associated with death.

Art therapy is to draw, paint, sculpt or use any other medium to express emotion without words. "It's always been a powerful way to express emotions without words,” said art therapist Mary Gambarony of the Riverview Medical Center in Red Bank, N.J. “It allows children to take the pain and to take the sadness, take the frustration, take the questions and put it outside of themselves and that's very healing in itself to get it out of you ... put it on something objective in front of you and be able to look at it.”

When a counselor attempts to help a child speak about a tragedy, he often focuses on the verbal or linguistic areas of the brain, which can negate children whose cognitive processes are more non-verbal. Conversely, forcing only the non-verbal expression does not address the needs of children who can be verbally expressive. Even for the verbal child, discussion does not lead to expressing the depth of grief, while an artistic expression can often allow the experience.

The effectiveness of art therapy is that it addresses both sides of the brain or the child's verbal or non-verbal intelligences and emotions. This is particularly true with the right side of the brain, considered our visual and more emotional side. Although we use both sides simultaneously, some children, especially girls, have an edge because the corpus collossum, a strip that runs down the center of the brain and allows the two halves of the brain to cross talk is larger in girls, an indication of why art therapy can be so effective for girls.

For boys, whose corpus collossum is smaller, they do not have the luxury of being able to cross talk as effectively. However, art therapy can specifically stimulate the right side or visual-emotional side of the boy's brain, which allows for the grief to be looked at openly.

Whatever expressive arts a counselor chooses in dealing with a child's grief, the key is to understand that beyond the different developmental levels of a child's grieving emotions, there are major factors involved in the healing process that go beyond simply talking about a tragic experience. The brain is far more complex and, as such, needs expressive forms of therapy for healing.

Jovem autista expressa-se através da música

Kyle Coleman, 26 anos, de Gwithian, Cornwall, foi diagnosticado com autismo aos três anos de idade e sempre se expressou apenas através de algumas palavras. O seu talento musical foi descoberto quando a sua mãe, Caroline, o levou para uma sessão de musicoterapia em 2009.

A musicoterapeuta Carine Kelley descobriu que a música constitui um meio instintivo e eficaz através do qual Kyle consegue expressar suas emoções e, desde então, visita-o duas vezes por semana. 

"Tornou-se quase imediatamente claro que Kyle tinha uma afinidade natural com elementos musicais e poderia recriar suas canções favoritas no teclado sem um conhecimento musical prévio", disse ela.

"A sua personalidade e emoções brilham através de seu canto e desta forma foi-nos possível desenvolver uma relação especial e explorar as capacidades do Kyle."

Depois de se aperceber do dom do seu filho, Caroline levou-o a um estúdio de gravação em Plymouth, para ver como ele reagia neste contexto. Revelando-de destemido perante a nova experiência, Kyle gravou sua canção favorita, "Monday, Monday" do grupo "The Mamas and Papas". O proprietário do estúdio ficou tão impressionado com o talento de Kyle que sugeriu a gravação de um álbum de caridade. E assim foi!

A sua mãe disse: "Nunca houve um álbum gravado e lançado por um indivíduo autista que tem uma linguagem muito limitada e uma incapacidade para se comunicar com os outros." 

"O seu pai era músico e morreu há dois anos Num acidente de moto. Eu acho que o talento musical de Kyle vem do pai."

O albúm é constituído por várias covers de Robbie Williams, Cat Stevens e Razorlight e inclui também uma música que foi escrita especialmente para ele, relativa ao autismo. O álbum foi apoiado pela National Autistic Society (NAS) e  lançado no dia 2 de Abril de 2012 (Dia Mundial do Autismo).

Notícia [em inglês] acedida em DailyMail

Musical Strategies help preschoolers with communication disorders - part II

Part I here

Snippets & Songs

Though preschool is a time when many children learn nursery rhymes, chants and songs, starting with song snippets works well for children with speech difficulties. A snippet is simply a short, repetitive phrase from a given song. Examples might include "e-i-e-i-o" from Old MacDonald, "perhaps she'll die" from There was an old lady who swallowed a fly or "hi-ho the der-ry-o" from The Farmer in the Dell.

Though each snippet has a different melodic contour, requiring some vocal manipulation, children are not challenged with remembering all the song's lyrics which may pose problems with pronunciation, as well as producing the entire melody. To keep students engaged when using snippets (or entire songs), reinforcing both language and song sequence can be achieved through use of song picture books. These are tradebooks of well-known children's songs, with illustrations (and sometimes recordings), that provide children a visual reference to enhance the auditory experience.

Articles by Jalongo & Ribblett and Routier suggest many language and/or reading applications for these resources; a partial listing of representative books follows this article. A particularly effective snippet from the song, Goin to the Zoo by Tom Paxton, would have children chime in on the underlined rhyming words: "We're goin to the zoo, zoo, zoo, How about you, you, you, You can come too, too, too, We're goin to the zoo, zoo, zoo."

These words are sung on the same pitch so little pitch sense is needed plus the musical lead-in flows naturally to the target pitch. Both a song picture book and recording (by the composer) are available to supplement instruction.

Reinforcing Speech Skills

Regarding actual songs, Mary Zoller, MS, CCC-SLP, advises the purpose of using songs in therapy is not to teach [children] how to sing but to use songs to teach. She adds enunciation, articulation and sequencing of sounds and words within songs can facilitate, stimulate or refine speech.

If you are working on a particular phoneme, say "m," try using the first verse of Miss Mary Mack, a children's hand-clapping song. A soft "p" can be reinforced through Pawpaw patch or a hissy "s" using Sally go round the sun. These songs have a minimal range of pitches plus they are short and very repetitive.

When a song doesn't exist, just create one using a familiar tune. Rain, rain go away is especially adaptable!

When singing, the use of recordings affords the speech professional some musical support and often establishes a key conducive to young voices. Contemporary singers of children's songs include Raffi, Julie Berkner and Joni Bartels. Earlier performers include Hap Palmer and Ella Jenkins. Public libraries and the internet are excellent sources for locating these materials.

Rachel Arnston, MS, CCC-SLP, a speech-language pathologist and author of Kids Express Train teaching tools, highlights the positive use of music in speech-language therapy, and emphasizes that interventions extend beyond the therapy session.

Using vocal play and songs, children can reinforce speech skills on the playground, at home and riding in the car.

References 

- Lindeman, C. (2011). Musical children: engaging children in music experiences. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice-Hall, p. 2. 

- Jalongo, M. & D. Ribblett. (1997). Using song picture books to support emergent literacy. Childhood Education, 74(1), 15-22. 

- Routier, W.J. (2003). Read me a song: Teaching reading using picture song books. Paper presented at the 48th International Reading Association Annual Meeting. ERIC ED479645. 

- Zoller, M. (1991). Use of Music Activities in Speech-Language Therapy. Language, Speech, and Hearing Services in Schools, 22, 272-276. 

- Arnston, R. (2006). Music integrated with speech and language therapy. Poster presentation, Miami: American Speech & Hearing Association. 

Article from Speech-Language Pathologists and Audiologists

Must-read book on Music, Emotion and the brain

In 2008, New Yorker music critic Alex Ross published The Rest Is Noise: Listening to the Twentieth Century — a remarkable historical and social context for contemporary music, which went on to become one of the most influential music history books ever written. 

Last fall, Ross released his highly anticipated sequel: Listen to This — an outstanding effort to explain and understand the world through its musical proclivities, from European opera to Chinese classical music to Bjork. 

Though the book, an anthology of the author’s most acclaimed essays with a deeper focus on classical music, Ross’s astute observations on the emotional and social experience of music make it an indispensable addition nonetheless.

From Brain Pickings

Hydraulophone - let's make music with water!

A hydraulophone or poseidophone  is a tonal acoustic musical instrument played by direct physical contact with water (sometimes other fluids) where sound is generated or affected hydraulically. In the first sense, it was invented and named by Steve Mann.

The hydraulophone combines the simplicity of the piano with the interface of the tin flute or recorder. You play it by stopping the jets of water with your fingers or hands. By blocking multiple jets you can even play chords. 
In other words, it works like a woodwind instrument, except the wind is replaced by water. Can you imagine it's potencial in the music therapy field?

More info at FUNtain

Musical Strategies help preschoolers with communication disorders - part I

Music and preschoolers just naturally go together. As noted music educator Carolyn Lindeman exclaims, "Music and young children are the best of friends. They're almost inseparable!"

Add to that equation youngsters with special needs in the areas of communication and speech disorders, and music strategies that utilize the voice seem ideal for encouraging vocalization, aiding with inflection and articulation and providing venues for communication and socialization with peers. 

Though federal legislation guarantees all children receive educational opportunities that are both equal and appropriate to their learning needs, it is rare music educators service publically funded preschool programs, and even rarer music therapists - those individuals trained to use music to achieve non-musical goals such as speech-language skill development - are available to work with special needs preschoolers.

Therefore, how might the speech therapist and/or pathologist select and engage preschoolers using musical strategies within a therapy setting?

Vocal play

In music, prior to singing, youngsters are encouraged to experiment with their voices. Imitations work well, especially animal sounds, because children can "hear" these sounds in their heads. Assorted animals from Old MacDonald's farm might yield the duck, cow, horse, sheep (lamb) and pig plus a token dog and cat. Rather than mimic the contrived sounds in the song, a quick analysis of the actual "sound" each animal makes provides a strong basis for use.

For example, a cow's "moo" has an archlike melodic contour, starting low, gently rising and then falling back down. Conversely, the "baa" of a sheep has a descending contour. Each imitation has a good frontal sound, i.e., 'm' and 'b', and requires vocal/pitch inflection.

Certain animals' sounds are confined to either a high or low register and are good for children with a monotonic speech delivery. For example, a large dog would have a lower "ruff," which the therapist could encourage the student to initiate. Then, by introducing a smaller dog, it would necessitate raising the pitch register of the "ruff."

Often using puppets or pictures of these animals helps the children to see the association between size and sound/register. Another animal sound that works well with minimal range speakers is the "whoo" of an owl. Similar in contour to "baa," it requires the child to "project the voice into the head," creating a siren-like tone with more resonance.

Part II here

Article from Speech-Language Pathologists and Audiologists

The music never stopped, o filme

Cerca de um ano e meio após ter descoberto "The music never stopped" - sobre o qual fiz um post aqui - finalmente tive a oportunidade de ver o filme. Aproveito para fazer uma breve descrição em português, já que no outro post escrevi em inglês.

Baseado num caso real estudado por Dr. Oliver Sacks (retratado no seu livro "The last Hippie"), o filme retrata a história de Gabriel Sawyer, um músico que perde a capacidade de guardar novas memórias devido a um tumor cerebral. 

O pai de Gabriel esforça-se por lutar contra o tumor cerebral do filho, o que o leva a procurar uma musicoterapeuta com o objectivo de utilizar a música como elemento conector entre o filho e a realidade. A profissional de musicoterapia descobre que a música rock que Gabriel escutava na sua juventude o ajuda a  recuperar algumas das capacidades cognitivas que os médicos consideraram irreversivelmente perdidas.

Apesar da distância física e emocional entre pai e filho nos últimos 20 anos, a dedicação do pai permite fortalecer a relação outrora esquecida, renunciando à suas próprias crenças para abraçar as peculiaridades e divergências do filho.

Saliento o ênfase que o filme deposita na musicoterapia, abordando especificamente a importância da música numa situação neurológica delicada. No caso do Gabriel (o qual recordo que apresenta uma base verídica), a música permitiu a estimulação de circuitos cerebrais, a recuperação de memórias e a reaprendizagem de funções cognitivas que, de outro modo, teriam sido negligenciadas, esquecidas, abandonadas.  Imperdível.