The Music Therapy Groups for Special Needs Children have been scheduled for the rest of 2018. The groups are scheduled for: October 13, November 10 and December 8th. Although it would be great to have your child attend all groups, it is not required. Registration is required. Please call Angie at 971-221-7144 or email angie@montanamusictherapy.com to register.
What happens during a music therapy group?
What: These groups are designed to provide a supportive environment that addresses goals such as improved social skills, increased expressive language, and enhanced motor planning. Each session will include opportunities to connect with others through music using singing, dancing, instrument playing, and musical games.
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When: The 2nd Saturday of every month (11:15-noon)
Dates for the rest of 2018: October 13, November 10 and December 8th
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Where: 1252 Harrison Ave., Butte, MT 59701
These groups are held in an upstairs room without an elevator. Please let us know if you need support in getting someone up the stairs.
To get a better idea of what these music therapy sessions look like, we encourage you to watch some of the videos we’ve created on our Big Sky Music Therapy youtube page.
Music therapists use music to achieve non-musical goals with a variety of populations. There are many ways in which music therapy can enhance the lives of older adults. Because almost everyone enjoys music and it activates so many parts of the brain, a music therapist is able to address many goals and objectives in ways that feel fun and motivating for the participants. Whether in a group or individual setting, a music therapist uses client-preferred music as much as possible. Some of the most common goals we address are related to speech, fine and gross motor movement, cognition, emotional expression, reality orientation, and social engagement.
What Can One Expect From A Music Therapist?
When individualized music experiences are designed by a professionally trained music therapist to fit functional abilities and needs, responses may be immediate and readily apparent. Participants without a music background can benefit from music therapy. Music therapy provides opportunities for:
Memory recall which contributes to reminiscence and satisfaction with life
Positive changes in mood and emotional states
A sense of control over life through successful experiences
Awareness of self and environment which accompanies increased attention to music
Anxiety and stress reduction for older adult and caregiver
Nonpharmacological management of pain and discomfort
Stimulation which provokes interest even when no other approach is effective
A structure which promotes rhythmic and continuous movement or vocal fluency as an adjunct to physical rehabilitation
Emotional intimacy when spouses and families share creative music experiences Social interaction with caregivers and families (Source: American Music Therapy Association, 2006)
Here are some examples of how music therapy can help older adults:
Dementia/Alzheimer’s: By using familiar songs, we’re often able to orient clients to the present moment, spark memories, and facilitate singing and movement. We’re able to create opportunities for interaction with fellow residents, family members, and staff. Research shows that music supports the maintenance of memory organization and thought processing. As dementia or Alzheimer’s disease progresses and individuals lose their ability to speak, they may still able to sing favorite songs or hum. Music therapy can be an effective modality for older adults to help maintain and slow the regression of speech and language skills in the areas of expressive and receptive communication, choice-making, oral motor, sequencing, motor planning, answering questions, phonemic awareness, speech intelligibility and patterns of language.
Parkinson’s Disease: Rhythm-based exercises paired with words can enhance speech intelligibility for the stroke patient or person with Parkinson’s disease. Rhythmic Auditory Stimulation (RAS) can support gait training and enhance movement.
Angie Kopshy, MM, MT-BC
Angie Kopshy, MM, MT-BC, is a board-certified music therapist and founder of Big Sky Music Therapy. Upon completion of her Master’s in Music from Boise State University, Angie returned to Portland to study music therapy. Before moving to Montana, her work included a private practice that incorporated neurologic music therapy techniques, the supervision of practicum students and interns and a teaching position at Pacific University. Angie is also a singer/songwriter with the band, Stoneface Honey.
I just spent four days at unfold, a yoga studio in SE Portland, studying Integrated Movement Therapy: An Introduction to Yoga Based Therapy Techniques for Children, Level One. I’m very excited to share this experience with you and provide a better understanding of the techniques you’ll see within individual sessions and groups..
This workshop was facilitated by Molly Lannon Kenny, the founder of IMT. One of the many great things about Molly is that she was a speech-language pathologist before turning her passion into a yoga-based therapy. In addition, she also has a lot of experience with children diagnosed on the autism spectrum.
Having been clinically trained as a speech language pathologist, it has always been my passion to see and articulate the specific effects of different yogic practices, bridging the clinical/yoga divide with common language and sound principles.
– Molly Lannon Kenny
The IMT framework Molly created incorporates “step-wise criteria for a therapeutic mode as a clinician, and also speaks to my heart as a yogini, starting from the perspective that we are all perfect and whole as we are.” In addition to studying the six core principles of Integrated Movement Therapy, we learned how to create schedules that incorporate yoga into goals and objectives created for each child. Yoga freeze, Yoga Bowling, Yoga Transformer, Obstacle Course and Shavasana are a few of the techniques we’ll be incorporating into our sessions. The skills that are being developed during these techniques are intended to positively impact a child’s life during the session and our time together, but outside our sessions as well.
Learning about these techniques at this time is particularly inspiring and exciting as The Global Music Therapy Project prepares for our next International trip to Nepal and India at the end of April. We’re scheduled to meet music therapists and observe their work within these countries and look forward to sharing what we discover.
Our music therapy groups for March are on the 5th and 19th. In between these two groups, Kate and I will be in Boise, Idaho, at our Western Region’s Chapter of the American Music Therapy Association conference, where we’ll attend sessions on the latest innovations and concepts in music therapy. This will be a month full of new approaches and ideas within our clinic!
Angie Kopshy, MM, MT-BC
Angie Kopshy, MM, MT-BC, is a board-certified music therapist and founder of Big Sky Music Therapy. Upon completion of her Master’s in Music from Boise State University, Angie returned to Portland to study music therapy. Before moving to Montana, her work included a private practice that incorporated neurologic music therapy techniques, the supervision of practicum students and interns and a teaching position at Pacific University. Angie is also a singer/songwriter with the band, Stoneface Honey.
Big Sky Music Therapy 