Music as a Global Resource: - International Council for Caring ...

SECTION:
Music for Mental and Physical Health
COUNTRY:
United States of America
PROJECT:
PROVIDING COMMUNITY-BASED MUSIC AND CREATIVE ARTS THERAPY SERVICES
FOR SPECIAL NEEDS CHILDREN AND ADULTS: ARTS FOR HEALING
DESCRIPTION:
Founded in 2000, Arts For Healing is a unique, nurturing community-based center that enables
individuals with learning and developmental disabilities to improve the quality of their lives through
music and creative arts therapy. A not-for-profit organization in New Canaan, Connecticut, Arts For
Healing, serves special needs children, adolescents and adults, and their families, in Fairfield and
Westchester Counties. Using interactive and enriching artistic experiences, Arts For Healing seeks to
enhance clients‟ communication skills, attention span, fine and gross motor skills, social skills, and
language development.
Arts For Healing aims to break through barriers that isolate clients and create a channel for selfexpression.
To achieve this mission, therapists in the center utilize a systematic Integrated Music and Arts
Therapy (IMAT) approach, developed by the Founder, in which modalities such as music, art, drama and
poetry are used interchangeably or separately, depending on the needs of the clients. In music therapy
sessions, clinical improvisation is used as a vehicle for songwriting, learning an instrument, letter and
number recognition, working out conflicts through musical expression and storytelling through words and
pictures. The inherent power of music within the creative process becomes both the symbol of expression
and the means for growth.
Arts For Healing also promotes clients‟ identity development. The continuous act of creating something
new through music and the creative arts enables individuals at any age to constantly re-examine
themselves and the reality they inhabit at that particular time. This new self-concept and understanding is
the key to a positive relationship between the student‟s internal and external worlds. As students progress,
their renewed awareness and self-confidence is carried with them into their family relationships, school
settings, and community.
Arts For Healing Program Features:
Music, art and expressive therapy for individuals and groups
TheaterWorks on Grove – weekly workshops that foster socialization and self-
expression through interactive musical and dramatic play experiences in small group
settings
Custom designed music instruction for individuals and groups, particularly students on
the autism spectrum and with severe learning disabilities
Socialization playgroups – group sessions that promote socialization and play for young
children with developmental disabilities and those on the autism spectrum
Community outreach including Elementary, Middle and High School programs, services
for Child Guidance Centers, Pre-K developmental nursery schools, parent programs,
parent-child programs, an ongoing music therapy program at elderly care centers, and a
new program at a local pediatric hospital
CURRENT STATUS:
Arts For Healing is funded through a combination of grants, foundations, individual donors, corporate
sponsors and client revenue.
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